WGC pitches strategic status for gold to spur Indian mining

Mumbai: The World Gold Council (WGC) has urged the government to classify gold as a strategic mineral to accelerate domestic mining and reduce India’s dependence on imports, its India CEO Sachin Jain said on Tuesday.

Jain said strategic mineral status could enable a single-window clearance mechanism, allowing mining companies to obtain approvals from the Centre instead of navigating multiple clearances involving state governments.

“If gold gets recognised under the strategic mineral list, a lot of things will change and get simplified,” Jain said.

He said boosting domestic gold mining was directly linked to reducing the current account deficit and advancing India’s self-reliance goals. In its report Swarnim Udaan 2047, WGC has suggested that domestic mining should meet 10-15 per cent of India’s annual gold demand by 2047.

Jain also called for greater monetisation of India’s vast household gold holdings. WGC estimates Indian households hold around 31,000 tonnes of gold, including about 20,000 tonnes in jewellery and nearly 6,000 tonnes in bars and coins.