India’s $600 Billion Hidden Treasure - India Real Time - WSJ
While the recently discovered treasure in a Kerala temple has grabbed the world’s attention, India’s real treasure is hidden elsewhere.
Noah Seelam/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
India’s private gold holdings are worth approximately $743 billion.
It’s in steel cupboards and in bank vaults across the country, where India’s housewives and other private owners have stashed their jewelry and gold savings. India’s private gold holdings probably total 15,000 tons, according to an estimate by Citigroup analysts in May. Some jewelers like T.K. Chandiran of Coimbatore thinks this number is too conservative, and the real amount is more like 30,000 tons, counting other hidden temple treasures.
These private stores are in addition to the 560 tons of gold kept as reserves with the Reserve Bank of India, which are worth around $26 billion.
If we stick with the conservative 15,000-ton estimate, at the current gold price of $1,549 per ounce, India’s private gold holdings are worth approximately $743 billion.
But this is not all in the purest form of gold, so let’s knock 20% off this amount to reflect what this gold could be worth now. That would be a cool $600 billion. The Kerala temple treasure, by the way, is only an estimated $22 billion, although there could be more riches in a still sealed vault that the Supreme Court is scheduled to hold a hearing on today.
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