The country's gold imports are likely to rise to about 70-75 tonnes per month against the present average of 50-60 tonnes, a senior industry official said here.
"The gold and jewellery trade in the country is now brimming with confidence that gold imports into the country would rise to about 70 to 75 tonnes per month against the present average of 50 to 60 tonnes," India Bullion & Jewellery Association (IBJA) spokesperson Harmesh Arora said in a statement here.
Gold imports by India, the world's second-largest user jumped substantially in recent months after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) allowed more banks and traders to buy bullion overseas, widening the nation's trade deficit to an 11-month high.
The optimism stems from the fact that the trend over the past five years has been encouraging - total demand averaging 800 tonnes per year, and this year will not be an exception, Arora said.
Short-term fluctuations are considered common in this sector, which are determined by the prevailing economic scenario and customer sentiments. Now that festive season is round the corner and with a stable government at the Centre, the next couple of years are predicted to be strong, Arora said.
IBJA is hosting the India International Bullion Summit 2014 on October 4 and 5 in Mumbai. The event will be attended by experts from India and other countries, who will be deliberating on relevant topics such as FDI investment in bullion and jewellery industry, changes needed in gold policy, among others.
Eminent personalities including P R Somsundaram, Managing Director & Alistair Hewitt, Market Intelligence from World Gold Council, Motilal Oswal, Chairman & Managing Director, Motilal Oswal Financial Service Ltd, Surender Kumar Jindal, Director, Jindal Group, and Rajesh Khosla, Managing Director, MMTC-PAMP India Pvt Ltd, will speak on various issues.
