Business
India's Q1 gold demand up 15 percent: WGC
Mumbai, May 14
The demand for gold in India
for the first quarter (January-March) of 2015 was at 191.7 tonnes, up by
15 percent as compared to the corresponding period of 2014, World Gold
Council (WGC) said in a report on Thursday.
The demand for gold in the first quarter of 2014 was 167.1 tonnes.
"India's
gold demand during the first quarter of 2015 was up 15 percent compared
to the corresponding quarter last year, though it is still below the
5-year average," said Somasundaram P.R., managing director, India, World
Gold Council.
He attributed the growth to the muted demand in
the same period last year due to crippling gold import policies coupled
with weak economic sentiment and trade uncertainty at the time of the
general elections.
"In contrast, following the partial removal of
the import curbs (with the exception of a duty reduction) and the
budget announcements introducing new gold products, the environment for
gold has been encouraging in the past few months, resulting in buying
behaviour slowly returning to normalcy," he added.
India's first
quarter 2015 gold demand value was Rs.46,730.6 crore, a gain of nine
percent in comparison with corresponding period a year ago when it was
Rs.42,898.6 crore.
Total jewellery demand in India for first
quarter of 2015 was up by 22 percent at 150.8 tonnes as compared to
123.5 tonnes in Q1 of 2014.
Somasundaram said there are a number
of factors that will shape a positive environment for gold this year.
Like an upward revision of GDP growth, the government's approach to
bringing gold into the mainstream economy and ensuring that gold becomes
a fungible asset akin to any financial asset.
Also the country's
natural affinity with gold as a savings asset will support it becoming
embedded in the financial sector and finally the modernisation of the
jewellery trade, he said.
"Notwithstanding the unseasonal rains
in the early part of the calendar year which will impact the rural
economy, full year demand expectations are in the range of 900-1,000
tonnes," he added.