NEW DELHI: Indian households are sitting on an enormous reserve of gold, and that wealth is now quietly reshaping the country’s lending market, a report has said.
According to a report by Morgan Stanley, Indian households collectively own more than 34, 000 tonnes of gold.
Kotak Mahindra Bank estimates this stockpile to be worth nearly $5 trillion. While most of this gold -- around 90 per cent -- still lies idle, it is increasingly being used as collateral to raise quick loans.
Gold-backed lending has emerged as one of the fastest-growing segments in India’s retail credit space.