Oct 02, 2006 :: India’s $290 billion gold horde

While pointing out how India is sitting idly on its gold, Bloomberg columnist Andy Mukherjee brings out some amazing facts about India’s barely visible wealth. India is the world’s largest consumer of gold at 676 tonnes per year, three times more than China. Even as gold price rose steadily between 2002 and 2005, Indians simply bought more. There are 15,000 tonnes of gold right here, in this land. That is a value of $290 billiion at $600 an ounce. The article juxtaposes this with the fact that to become world class in physical infrastructure, India needs just $150 billion, a mere half of the reserve.

A new financial reform intiative of 2006, called Exchange Traded Fund [ETF] might induce Indians to feel secure enough to put their gold to productive use. Gold ETF in the US have brought in a 28% return to investors. Full article