Muthoot Exim forays into gold recycling business segment

Muthoot Exim Pvt Ltd, the precious metal division of Muthoot Pappachan Group (MPG), today forayed into the multi-crore retail gold aggregation and recycling business segment by opening the first outlet here.
"The objective of the new facility Muthoot Gold Point is to cater to the burgeoning individual household need to recycle unwanted, old and used gold jewellery, by buying scrap, old and used gold items directly from customers," Keyur Shah, CEO, Precious Metals Business of MPG told PTI.
Stating that India, one of the largest importers of gold in the world, already has an estimated stock of more than 25,000 tonnes in custody of private households and temple trusts, Shah said only 200 to 300 tonnes are recycled annually, leading to a very high dependence on imports.

Currently, aggregation and recycling of gold is mainly done by the unorganized sector without any standardisation or transparency in the system, Thomas Muthoot, Executive Director of Muthoot Fincorp, the flagship company of MPG, said.
The new facility would ensure transparency and good valuation, by weighing, purity testing and buy based on the day to day price in the market, unlike that given purely on estimation by most of the unorganised sector, Shah said.
The company planned to open such facilities in Chennai and Madurai this fiscal in Tamil Nadu, a state which consumes 70 per cent of South India's consumption, Shah said.

Depending on success, outlets will be opened in North India and Mumbai, which has huge potential to recycle gold, he said, adding they would sell the recycled gold to ornament manufacturers to reduce dependency on imports.
The company will in future buy such gold from temple trusts and also banks, which have large stocks, Thomas said.