Though gold prices have surged through the year, there has been no-let up in demand for the yellow metal in India, which is the world’s biggest gold guzzler. Demand for gold in the first nine months of 2010 rose by 79%, from 363 tonnes in 2009, to 650 tonnes this year.
In rupee terms, the demand for gold stood at Rs 113,302 crore this year, up from Rs 53,196 crore registered in the first nine months of 2009. This number is expected to rise by the time the year ends as the demand in India in the last quarter is high due to the festive and marriage seasons.
“With the Indian wedding season coming up, we anticipate that gold demand will continue to reach greater heights,” Ajay Mitra, MD, Middle East and India, World Gold Council.
Experts see the rise in demand to be a result of growing prosperity in rural India. “A good monsoon and growing income of
rural India coupled with the fact that not much is going into fixed deposits, are driving people to gold,” said Ritesh Jain, head of fixed income at Canara Robeco Mutual Fund.