2017-03-15 Wed

The Indian Government is supporting the process of recycling of gold from temples and private sources to reduce the dependency on gold imports. As per official reports, 7 tonnes of gold out of a potential 24,000 tonnes was recycled in the last one and a half years. Most of this gold is coming from temples and private households. India imports almost 800 tonnes of gold every year for investment and various other purposes, making it the second largest gold importer after China.

The program offers only a few incentives for investors. Other problems include additional costs for testing the purity of the metal and melting. Apart from that, financial institutions do not get any kind of appreciation. Gold refiners expected an increase in scrap supplies which did not happen as predicted. There also have been reports that people in India buy new gold ornaments by exchanging older ones, or opt for recycled gold instead of new gold jewellery.