People in India from all walks of life buy gold, and it hasn't lost its allure as price soars

Rebecca Bundhun · for CBC News

· Posted: May 31, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours ago

Sidheshwar Shirsath, who lives successful the suburbs of India's fiscal capital, Mumbai, archetypal started buying golden erstwhile helium got joined 9 years ago.

Shirsath, 35, works arsenic a operator and earns astir 55,000 rupees ($889 Cdn) a month. He decided that golden mightiness beryllium a bully mode to physique a nest ovum for his family's future.

Whenever helium had immoderate currency to spend, helium purchased golden jewelry, including rings and bangles, and helium present has astir 130 grams of gold, worthy much than 1 cardinal rupees ($16,000 Cdn).

"Sometime aft I archetypal bought gold, the rates started increasing, truthful my involvement successful investing successful it besides grew," Shirsath said.

In caller months — to his delight — the terms has skyrocketed.

Gold globally was trading astatine $3,298 US an ounce connected Friday morning, up much than 25 per cent since the commencement of the year, and up 42 per cent compared with a twelvemonth ago.

Gold's worth globally has surged amid planetary economical uncertainty and geopolitical tensions, including concerns astir the interaction of U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff policy.

The precious metallic is often seen arsenic a "safe haven" plus that investors flock to during periods of economical turbulence.

'Gold is simply a portion of the societal fabric'

In India, the terms has risen adjacent much sharply and is up 30 per cent since the opening of the twelvemonth — with the further summation driven by the rupee's depreciation against the American dollar.

But for galore Indians, similar Shirsath, golden is much than an investment.

"Gold is precise adjacent to Indian women," helium said, his wife, Manisha, sitting adjacent to him successful their humble home, adorned with a dense golden choker and gleaming bangles. "They request golden — particularly for festivals and weddings."

In India, golden is chiefly purchased it successful the signifier of jewelry due to the fact that it tin beryllium a mode of showing disconnected one's wealthiness and status. The precious metallic besides holds tremendous spiritual and taste significance.

It is portion of the dowry successful weddings, for example, and it is considered to beryllium auspicious to bargain golden during definite Hindu festivals.

"India is simply a precise unsocial marketplace for golden ," said Sachin Jain, determination CEO, India, for the World Gold Council, a planetary manufacture association. "Gold is simply a portion of the societal fabric, and you don't request to beryllium successful immoderate peculiar economical strata to devour gold.

"We each successful India person a household doctor, truthful to say, and we person a household jeweller."

India among world's largest golden consumers

In agrarian India, wherever astir of the country's 1.4 cardinal radical inactive unrecorded — and with galore not having casual entree to slope accounts — golden is simply a fashionable mode of storing savings, Jain said.

All of this means that India is 1 of the world's largest consumers of gold, with the country's request for the precious metallic hitting astir 800 tonnes a year.

The steep price, however, is having an interaction connected the quantity of the metallic that radical are buying.

"With jewelry consumption, whenever the terms of golden goes up, the user waits and watches," Jain said. "The infinitesimal it gets a spot settled, we spot consumers travel back."

The World Gold Council's information shows that request for golden successful India successful the archetypal 3 months of this twelvemonth stood astatine 118.1 tonnes, down by 15 per cent compared with the archetypal 4th of past year.

But due to the fact that the terms is up, the worth of the country's golden request — which is the quantity of golden that is bought oregon invested — successful the archetypal 4th of this twelvemonth really roseate by 22 per cent, to scope 940 cardinal rupees ($15.1 cardinal Cdn).

"People are buying little quantities," said Colin Shah, managing manager of Kama Jewelry, a Mumbai-based manufacturer. "They each person budgets. If idiosyncratic has $2,000 to spend, they'll walk that and bargain a little volume."

But, helium said, that golden has by nary means mislaid its shine, contempt its precocious price.

"In India, determination is simply a civilization of gold, and cipher is going to halt buying golden due to the fact that of pricing," Shah said. "Actually, they'll person much assurance successful the class owed to the instrumentality they are making connected their money."

Investing successful golden digitally is connected the rise

With Indians' appetite to ain golden showing nary signs of easing, the authorities successful caller years has taken a bid of steps to effort to guarantee that golden is brought into the ceremonial economy.

These see lowering the import work connected golden past twelvemonth to six per cent from 15 per cent, partially arsenic a mode of making it little charismatic for radical to smuggle golden into the state to debar paying precocious taxes.

The authorities besides offers sovereign golden bonds arsenic an alternate to carnal gold.

The World Gold Council's Jain said that Indians are progressively investing successful golden digitally, for example, done exchange-traded funds (ETFs) — and the terms surge has lone encouraged radical to look astatine these options.

"The young procreation is getting much and much savvy, and with the easiness of technology, we judge that concern into golden and golden assets is going to get a small much digital," helium said.

Gold concern demand, including ETFs, roseate by 7 per cent successful India to 46.7 tonnes successful the archetypal quarter, according to the World Gold Council.

JPMorgan forecasts that the terms of gold could deed $4,000 US an ounce adjacent year.

Shirsath said that helium and his household person much than capable jewelry now, but helium inactive wants to support buying gold.

"My adjacent program is to bargain golden coins oregon spell for bonds."

WATCH | Big container stores connection golden to customers arsenic its popularity heats up: