WGC expects gold demand to be of around 800 tn this year

Demand to gain momentum in wedding season

The World Gold Council (WGC), the market development organisation for gold industry, is expecting the demand for gold to be at around 800 tonne for the year in India, compared to the offtake of around 933 tonne during 2011. However, while the demand for the yellow metal was low for the first half of the year, the Council expects the market to pick up momentum in the festival, wedding seasons, this year, said a senior executive from WGC.

Speaking to the reporters after the launch of WGC's wedding jewellery brand Azva in Chennai, Vipin Sharma, director, jewellery, WGC, said, "While the first six months the demand has come down. But at present the trend is picking up and there is a positive movement. We expect overall the offtake of gold in India would grow to around 800 tonne this year, with the momentum from this wedding season."

Last year the gold offtake in India was around 933 tonne. On an average, the gold market in India see a demand of around 700 tonne a year, for the last three years. He added that the mix between the jewellery and investment gold are also changing, with more growth towards investment gold, in the country.

The Council has launched Azva, a wedding jewellery collection designed in collaboration with various jewellery firms, in the city. The Council, which owns the brand, would do the brand promotion and advertisement for Azva while it would be manufactured by various manufactures in the industry and sold in select major retail outlets in the country.

Plans are to complete launch of the product in the four major cities, Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore before Diwali, in 40 outlets. Plans are to launch the products in 20 cities in near future, he added.