Page 5 - Bullion World Issue 4 August 2021

Bullion World | Issue 04 | August 2021

EDITORIAL

Dear Readers,

The introduction of mandatory hallmarking and HUID (hallmarking unique identification), has
resulted in some major disruption in the business. Hallmarking has its own set of challenges. In
this edition of Bullion World, we have discussed about the challenges in hallmarking and how the
industry is coping up with them.

On the other hand, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) suggested that all Gold imports
into the country must be routed through the proposed spot gold exchange. It is suggested that the
country should move into a system where all gold imports are canalized through the Electronic Gold
Receipt. This system of routing the Gold has been followed in countries such as Turkey and China.
The setting up of the spot gold exchange is expected to transform India from being a price-taker
in the international market to a price- maker, as India is one of the topmost consumers of Gold.

India is shifting slowly and steadily to digital gold, although Gold coins and bars have been the most
trusted investment form across generations. The value of gold has increased enormously over the
past few years, which makes it an increasingly lucrative option to store and compound. Gold prices
have gone up more than 50% just in the last 3 years. Storing physical gold for a long period of time
has its downsides, such as accidental loss, theft, decline in resale value, storage cost and etc. Digital
Gold is, on the other hand, stored in secured vaults, insured on behalf of the seller and has zero
making charge. With new players and product innovation, Digital gold space in India is expanding
its presence and thus, becoming a very convenient form of accumulating as well as trading in gold.

Even with a strong recovery in consumer demand, the Global Gold demand was flat with a
1% dip during the second quarter of 2021 following modest inflows into ETFs, the World
Gold Council (WGC) said in a report. The report revealed that between April and June, most
consumer gold purchases were positive as jewellery demand grew by 60% at 390.7 tonnes
compared to 244.5 tonnes in the same quarter last year, mainly driven by China and India.

We do look forward to your comments and suggestion. Please do write to

Best Wishes,

Best wishes,
Neelambari Dasgupta

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