World Gold Council plans consumer marketing in India, promotes digital gold

Move spurred by unprecedented decline in demand; WGC is also working with large institutions for a bullion exchange in India, and with assaying centres to build consumers' trust

Faced with an unprecedented decline in demand, the World Gold Council (WGC) is planning to start consumer marketing of gold in India.

In a conference call, David Tait, chief executive officer (CEO), WGC, said, “There is a feeling of depression in the bullion industry due to a sharp decline in retail demand. The recovery did not come the way we expected. There was an unprecedented debt and employment issue in the market. Hence, we are looking at consumer marketing of gold in India.”

The fall in gold demand was led primarily by record high prices in India. Gold price is hovering around