The World Gold Council (WGC) has urged the government to classify the yellow metal as a strategic mineral to boost domestic mining and reduce import dependence, a top official said on Tuesday.
According to Sachin Jain, regional CEO, India, World Gold Council, granting strategic mineral status to gold would enable a single-window clearance mechanism, allowing mining companies to obtain approvals from the Centre instead of navigating multiple clearances involving state governments.
"We have been talking a lot, and in our discussions with the Ministry of Mines, we have brought this up very specifically," Jain told PTI in an interview.
Jain said if gold gets recognised under the strategic mineral list, a lot of things will change and get simplified. "Investors and miners can, under one window of clearance, take the licence from the central ministry and mine in any part of the country," he said.
"It is directly linked to the current account deficit and our ambition of becoming self-reliant. Accelerating mining and putting gold in the strategic mineral list will hugely amplify that," Jain said.
It can be noted that earlier this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had appealed countrymen to not purchase any gold for one year in order to improve the external position, which was getting affected by gold imports.
In a report titled 'Swarnim Udaan 2047', WGC said 10-15 per cent of India's annual gold demand should be met through domestic mining by 2047.
On global gold demand, Jain said central banks are expected to continue buying gold as a long-term strategic asset amid persistent geopolitical uncertainties, rising global debt and concerns over confidence in the US dollar.
He also reiterated the need to monetise India's vast household gold holdings to reduce reliance on imports.
According to WGC estimates, Indian households hold around 31,000 tonnes of gold, including about 20,000 tonnes in jewellery and nearly 6,000 tonnes in bars and coins.
According to the report, the value of this gold is approximately Rs 314.9 lakh crore.
Monetising even 1 per cent of this idle stock annually could substitute gold imports worth Rs 3.1 lakh crore, reduce import dependence while unlocking significant domestic economic value, the report added.
Jain said simplifying and digitising the gold monetisation framework, particularly for bars and coins, could bring a significant portion of idle gold into productive economic use.
On cryptocurrencies, Jain said digital assets would continue to exist but serve a different purpose from gold, adding that the Council is working on technology and tokenisation infrastructure to make gold more fungible, authentic and accessible round the clock.
