India’s gold import in the calendar year 2020 is expected to fall 50 per cent to nearly a 17-year low because of lackluster demand, record-high prices and the Covid-19 outbreak in March. Analysts estimate that India’s gold imports this year will be to the tune of only 350 tonnes.
Indians interested in investing in gold have shifted to instruments such as sovereign gold bonds and gold ETFs. While some are selling gold or using it as collateral to generate short-term liquidity, gold is still the best-performing asset in CY20 till date.
In the March quarter of CY20, the gold import was 78.4 tonne; in the June quarter, it was merely 11 tonne. The import scene in July too is not encouraging and demand is expected to fall to a third this year.
Meanwhile in CY19, according to the World Gold Council data, India had imported 647 tonne of gold.
Aruna Gaitonde, Editor in Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough & Polished
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