India Plans to Invest in Gold Mining

They are calling it the great Indian gold rush. Within months, Indian officials are expected to auction licences for new gold mines across the country, and abandoned colonial-era mines are set to be revived.

India is the world’s largest consumer of the precious metal, importing more than 1,000 tonnes a year. In August alone, 120 tonnes were brought in, and demand is expected to rise still further in the runup to Diwali and weddings season. Local production of gold totals less than two tonnes.

Successive governments have struggled to turn Indians away from gold, which economists say accounts for almost a third of the country’s deficit.

Now ministers want to increase domestic supply and believe gold worth more than £2.5bn can be mined in the dusty hills of Kolar, in the southern state of Karnataka, with more to come from other sites in the west and centre of the country.

Balvinder Kumar, of the mines ministry, told the Guardian: “There have been investigations and explorations by state governments and we believe there is gold there that can be exploited. These are some very deep and old mines. We will put about 80 [mines] to auction within two or three months.”

via The Guardian

Content is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc. or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. If you would like to reproduce or redistribute any of the content found on MarketPulse, an award winning forex, commodities and global indices analysis and news site service produced by OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc., please access the RSS feed or contact us at info@marketpulse.com. Visit https://www.marketpulse.com/ to find out more about the beat of the global markets. © 2023 OANDA Business Information & Services Inc.