Expert Call with Mr Ketan Kothari (Augmont) on Gold Policy Shift

Research evidence excerpt

Expert Call with Mr Ketan Kothari (Augmont) on Gold Policy Shift

the industry from a long-term perspective through delivery gold ETF. Under his leadership,

import substitution rather than disrupting consumer demand. While the government can take Augmont has built a comprehensive gold

additional measures, a complete ban on gold imports is not expected. In the event of continued ecosystem spanning trading, digital gold,

geopolitical issues, past measures such as imposing quotas, export promotion (similar to the and financial products.

80:20 rule in the past), and tightening gold metal loans/consignment imports are possible but

Today, Augmont serves 50mn+ customersunlikely in the near term.

and a network of 5k+ jewellers across

Others: a) industry is gradually shifting towards gold recycling & monetisation to reduce import India. Ketan has also played an active

dependence; b) electronic gold receipts (EGRs), though notified by SEBI, remain underutilised role in shaping India’s gold market through

due to lack of GST input credit on physical to demat conversion, but this may change; c) GST contributions to policy frameworks and

resolution can lower EGR cost of transaction and enable exchange based lending/borrowing industry bodies such as the India Bullion

and improve supply liquidity; d) even a small share in mobilisation of ~30k tonnes of idle and Jewellers Association (IBJA).

household gold could be a key lever for import substitution; e) higher domestic sourcing is

also beneficial to manufacturers via reduced FX hedging requirements; f) new channels such

as digital gold, P2P lending platforms (such as Gullak), and ETFs are enhancing liquidity and

access; g) smuggling incentives have increased due to higher duties, but limited impact due