In a recent development in India, gold has been monetized, by which the yellow metal will be accepted as collaterals for consumer loans by leading financial institutions. In general, such loans are instant across the counter loans requiring minimal documentation. The monetization process is expected to open up the sector and enable the circulation of roughly 18,000 tonnes (worth approximately Rs. 30 lac crores at current prices) back into the economy.

Ajay Mitra, Managing Director - India, Middle East & Turkey, World Gold Council said, “Acceptance of gold for loans by Banks and Financial Institutions is an important development that will infuse greater confidence in gold as an asset class. While jewellery was being accepted as collateral through informal channels and Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs for long, it was primarily not widely offered by banks since only a few banks had the requisite infrastructure for the procedures to deal with valuation and storage of gold. However, with banks entering gold bar business, infrastructure for storage became available and with medallions too being accepted for securitization purposes, the role of gold is surely bound to change from commodity to a monetized asset that would encourage consumers to invest more in gold , a time-tested secure and now a monetized asset class.”

HDFC Bank, one of India’s premier banks, offers the facility for loans against gold across all its branches in India. Biju Pillai, Executive Vice President and Business Head, PL, Gold Loans, LAS & Home Loans, HDFC Bank said, “We have seen significant growth in our loan against gold business over the last two years. Gold as a security, benefits the customer through much lower interest rates and faster loan process compared to other forms of credit, while allowing the bank to reach out to newer segments of customers. There is immense opportunity in the market and we are looking to exploit that.”