2024 is going to an increase in demand for gold, primarily because prices above Rs 60,000 per 10 grams has now become “acceptable” to the market, according to Somasundaram PR, Regional CEO, World Gold Council India. This would lead to a rise in India’s imports of the yellow metal in the short-term, despite recent rise in tariffs. “We believe the biggest driver of gold demand is income growth… a 1% increase in income in the long term leads to 0.9% increase in demand for gold,” he told Priyansh Verma in an interview. Excerpts.
Q. What has led to the recent spurt in gold imports?
A. In e have seen in the first nine months of 2023, the demand has been a little soft. This is primarily due to high prices in the domestic market. It’s a known fact that consumers generally tend to be wary of buying when prices go up. They would like the prices to go up in the long term, but in the short term, they want to be sure that it is not a blip.
This year, the volatility was very high. The prices have been moving up and down. It breached Rs 60,000 (per 10 grams) and now nobody expects anything below. The October-December quarter of any year also sees a rise in demand because of monsoon – which has been good. It has led to stocking up. That’s why there is a spurt in imports. Generally, it’s difficult to link imports with immediate demand.
Meet the daughter of Hyderabad’s richest man, who helps run her family’s Rs 8,049 crore company and recently purchased two lavish properties for Rs 80 crore US grocery giant Hy-Vee expands in India with new Bengaluru office Meet Delhi’s richest businessman: With a net worth of Rs 2.79 lakh crore, he donated Rs 5.6 crore daily to charity in 2022-2023 — Know about his career, family, and more Boost for India Inc! 42% increase in bankruptcy case resolution in FY24 to highest ever- Find out why it’s good news
Also Read
Just 3 per cent growth seen in demand for petroleum products in FY25
There are a lot of jewellers talking about initial public offering (IPO) this year. So overall trade sentiment seems to be high. There is definitely a lag in consumer sentiment as compared to trade sentiment, and that’s what lead to higher imports.
Q. What’s your outlook for gold demand in 2024?
A. There is much interest in gold. Since 2024 is the year of election, there is a chance populist schemes get announced in the Budget, thus leaving more money in the hands of people, particularly in rural areas. This could drive up demand significantly. Also, there is a certain amount of acceptance of high prices now – Rs 60,000 seems to be acceptable now.
We believe in general, the biggest influencer of demand in income growth. 1% increase in income in the long term leads to 0.9% increase in demand for gold. In terms of gold reserves, India currently has 800 tonnes of gold. In the next 5 years, we are expected to reach 1,000 tonnes.
Q. If demand increases in 2024, we can also witness a rise in gold imports…
A. Absolutely. It’s quite possible, demand leads to rise in imports. But there is one more aspect. In the gold market, there is a huge amount of recycling that could come in. Gold supply has two main sources: imports and recycling – which is gold for cash. You can have recycling of a very high order. When we see India must be prepared for a big jump in demand – we also point to recycling. The big jump in demand may happen either in 2024 or 2025. In the short run, however, the rise in demand will lead to a jump in imports.
Also Read
Sugar output may be higher than 32.5 MT
Q. Last week the government increased the import duty on gold findings to 15% in line with gold bars. How much will this have an impact on gold imports?
A. Let me clear this, the government raised the duty to plug a loophole. Market participants say that some people were using this particular route to get gold in a different form. Nothing has changed for the gold market essentially. Come from Sports betting site VPbet
Q. The import duty on gold has been rasied from 10% to 15%…
A. The 15% duty is a good thing. It’s an ideal scenario to have this duty for gold, which is low. High duties increase the propensity for the grey market to survive in a very robust manner.
Also, with respect to the grey market, tell me…who sells this gold? If we have good delivery, if we have a BIS (Bureau of India Standards)-registered refiners and if we are saying that the jewellery trade is like getting a lot more organised, why can’t the industry itself build a network where they call out the grey market people. The 15% duty is acceptable to the industry as of now. It’s also not a consumer issue. No consumer knows, or cares about the duty. Consumers are happy if gold prices rise.If the market is able to identify grey market players, and stop it, then in 4-5 years, we’ll see import duties coming down. Right now, the government wants the industry to play its role.
Also Read
Jeera prices fall 50 per cent amid bumper crop prospects
Q. How do you see the investments in Gold ETFs, or digital gold, going forward? Will it lead to less buying of physical gold?
A. We’ve seen that gold financial investments can be very attractive. But whether it will lead to less physical buying of physical, I can’t say for sure.
Gold ETF (exchange traded fund) is growing particularly in US and European markets. But in India and China, it is stuck in a particular range. That’s because people in urban areas invest in gold.
Even investments in digital gold are growing. We’re at a nascent stage in terms of investments, but it will grow. But this also requires regulation, there is no proper regulatory framework for digital. We’ve made a presentation to the government for the same.
Related Posts
By Riyank Arora
On Tuesday, the benchmark index opened with a gap up of around 47 points and fell nearly 187 points towards the closing. The Nifty ended 140 points lower, while the Sensex was up by 384 points.
Among sectors, the Nifty Realty Index led the fall, with FMCG stocks outperforming all other sectoral indices rising nearly 1105 points. Technically, the market is looking weak and should witness selling pressure on every rise.
Also Read
Dr. Reddy’s slides 5% on margin concerns and weak US pipeline in near-term; Find out what brokerages recommend
22,350 to 22,400 zone should be considered as a strong selling zone with a strict stoploss at 22,500 for potential targets of 22,000 and 21,800 on the benchmark.
Bilasipara – G…
Read moreInvestors in Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs) are poised to benefit from new tax regulations as proposed in the Union Budget, which align the long-term capital gains (LTCG) holding period of these assets with that of listed equity shares.
This adjustment, which has been a long-standing demand of the industry, reduces the holding period for determining LTCG for listed business trusts from 36 months to 12 months, putting REITs and InvITs on par with listed equities.
A REIT comprises a portfolio of commercial real estate assets that are mostly leased out, while InvITs focus on infrastructure assets such as highways and power plants.Come from Read more
The rupee plunged to an all-time closing low of 83.54 against the dollar on Tuesday, weighed down by the simmering geopolitical tensions in West Asia and hardening of US Treasury yieldsCome from Sports betting site VPbet. The local currency hit a lifetime low of 83.56 during intraday trade, but likely intervention from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) prevented any further fall. It ended the day with a decline of 9 paise or 0.10%, surpassing its previous closing low of 83.45 recorded on Monday.
“RBI’s presence was felt in the market. Reduced volatility in the market suggested that RBI might have intervened in the market,” Kunal Sodhani, vice-president – treasury, Shinhan Bank,…
Read moreRocksteady has pulled Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice league offline after players have reported that their story campaigns “auto-completed,” and the studio is looking into the issue. Come from Sports betting site VPbet
“We’re aware that a number of players are currently experiencing an issue whereby upon logging into the game for the first time, they have full story completion. To resolve this issue, we will be performing maintenance on the game servers,” Rocksteady said in a statement on Twitter.
The studio continued, “During this time the game will be unavailable. We expect this to take several hours and will update once we have more information.”
…
Read moreNothing beats a good graphic novel as winter draws closer, and if you’re looking to update your library with some Dark Knight material, these Black Friday deals on Batman’s greatest adventures are not to be missed. Amazon is offering several of the Caped Crusader’s greatest hits for Black Friday, giving you the chance to pick up classic tales and modern-day masterpieces at a greatly reduced price.
Starting with a few must-have titles, The slipcase edition of The Dark Knight Returns is a luxurious version of one of the greatest Batman stories of all time. This dark story is set in Batman’s future long after he has retired from fighting crime, but after one fateful night that reignites the beast inside of him, Bruce Wayne suits up once again to bring justice to Gotham City. The Dark…
Read moreMaltese iGaming solutions pioneer Aspire Global Limited has announced the successful launch of the new sportsbetting domain at BetTarget.com using the proprietary platform from its recently-acquired BtoBet enterprise.
Headquartered in the Valletta suburb of Sliema, the online casino platform developer used an official Monday press release to detail that it agreed a deal last October to purchase BtoBet for a total consideration worth approximately $23 million. The firm described the move involving BetTarget.com as the first step in a subsequent plan that is to see sportsbetting brands already utilizing its innovations migrated onto the solution from its newest business-to-business venture before the end of the year.
Inaugural introduction:
Aspire Global Limited describe…
Read moreOnline live casino, ComeOn.nl, has launched the Player Account Management (PAM) iGaming platform and content supplied by Bragg Gaming Group, the gaming technology platform provider. ComeOn.nl customers in the Netherlands will now be able to enjoy Bragg’s extensive line-up of online slots and live casino games.
October 2022 launch:
ComeOn.nl launched Bragg’s platform at the end of October. The comprehensive PAM iGaming platform includes Bragg’s state-of-the-art technological solutions such as the Bragg Hub distribution platform and FUZE™ rendering an optimized platform operation.
Focus on customer and compliance:
Well-defined dedicated tools, including player and payment management, facilitate quick and safe withdrawals. The entire platfor…
Read moreOne of the most popular developers of gambling entertainment solutions in the world, Aruze Gaming, is experiencing some financial difficulties these days. The company handed over the voluntary petition for bankruptcy in Nevada.
Benefits of Chapter 11:
Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code allows this in the United States. The company filed it in the United States Bankruptcy Court, referring to its casinos in Nevada.
Read more
The Rank Group Plc, the largest casino and bingo operator by venue in Great Britain, has provided a trading performance overview from July through November 2022. Rank has also updated its profit expectations for the first half of the year 2023.
Modest NGR increase:
The overview shows that the Group‘s net generated revenue (NGR) has increased by 1% over the subject period compared to the same period in 2021. The major contributors to the increase were the Group’s Mecca and Enracha venues but the decline in revenues of Grosvenor venues offset their performance. Grosvenor’s trading performance has been weaker than expected in Q2 as its weekly average NGR of £5.8 million ($7.1 million), though slightly above the Q1 level, still has no…
Read moreการซื้อสินค้าและบริการใดๆ แน่นอนว่าลูกค้าย่อมต้องการการรับบริการที่ดีที่สุดเพื่อให้เกิดประสบการณ์การใช้งานที่ยอดเยี่ยม และนั่นก็คือหน้าที่ของผู้ผลิตสินค้าที่จะดูว่าพวกเขามีกึ๋นกันมากแค่ไหน กระนั้นแล้วนอกจากการให้รีวิวทางโซเชียลมีเดียหรือหน้าร้านค้าดิจิทัลหลังจากเล่นเ�…
Read more