RBI buys record gold, what is PM Modi up to?

India

oi-Deepak Tiwari

India’s
gold
buying
spree
started
soon
after
the
Modi
government
took
over
the
reins
in
2014.
Leading
a
nationalist
government,
PM
Modi
has
been
at
the
forefront
of
the
drive
to
bring
back
India’s
past
glory
and
taking
it
to
a
new
level.

New
Delhi,
Dec
26:
The
recent
developments
in
the
global
economic
affairs
have
been
quite
positive
for
India.
Not
only
several
countries
have
started
trading
in
Indian
rupee
(INR)
for
their
trade
settlements
but
INR
has
also
become
a
trusted
currency
world
over.
The
gold
standard
that
had
disappeared
in
the
1970s,
looks
like
making
a
mega
comeback
now,
for
obvious
reasons.

India
has
been
purchasing
gold
quite
consistently
for
the
last
almost
one
decade.
The
quantum
of
purchase
has
just
gone
up
amidst
global
economic
uncertainties
and
now
India
holds
more
than
781
tonnes
of
gold.
In
terms
of
gold
reserves,
India
now
ranks
ninth
largest
gold-holding
country
in
the
world.
That’s
not
a
small
achievement
when
we
look
back
at
the
situation
in
the
1990s
when
India
had
to
mortgage
most
of
its
gold
reserves
with
the
Bank
of
London
to
pull
back
the
economy
from
the
brink.

Countries
raking
up
gold
to
meet
contingency

Is
India
the
only
country
that
is
raking
up
gold?
No.
In
fact,
several
other
nations
have
gone
on
a
buying
spree
recently.
Yes,
central
banks
globally
bought
more
than
463
tonnes
of
gold
in
2021
and
nearly
704
tonnes
this
year
which
is
the
most
annual
increase
since
1967.
The
hunger
for
gold
has
gone
up
for
various
reasons,
especially
from
Russia
and
China.

India,
UAE
may
trade
in
INR
soon

According
to
some
analysts,
Russia
and
China
are
hoarding
gold
for
the
obvious
reason
that
they
are
not
so
great
in
terms
with
the
USA.
In
fact,
China
according
to
them
is
importing
and
holding
more
gold
than
it
reports
to
reduce
its
exposure
to
the
US
dollars.

Making
India
great
again

Traditionally,
India
has
been
called
‘golden
bird’ for
its
richness
and
wealth.
Even
the
British
considered
it
a
‘Jewel
in
their
Crown’
for
its
resources.
It’s
another
story
that
the
British
loot
turned
India
into
one
of
the
poorest
countries,
to
the
extent
that
even
today,
75
years
after
they
left
the
country,
India
is
facing
economic
difficulties.
However,
now
India
is
not
only
among
the
top
five
economies
but
in
the
coming
days
it
would
become
the
third
largest
economy
in
the
world.

Interestingly,
India’s
gold
buying
spree
started
soon
after
the
Narendra
Modi
government
took
over
the
reins
in
2014.
Leading
a
nationalist
government,
Prime
Minister
Modi
has
been
at
the
forefront
of
the
drive
to
bring
back
India’s
past
glory
and
take
it
to
a
new
level.
Since
2017,
the
Reserve
Bank
of
India
(RBI)
has
purchased
over
200
tonnes
of
gold,
which
is
quite
astounding
in
itself.

Challenging
dollar
hegemony,
Sri
Lanka
to
trade
with
Russia
in
INR

Needless
to
say,
the
record
gold
buying
data
reflects
officially
reported
gold
purchases.
Speculations
are
also
there
that
there
are
large
unreported
increases
in
India’s
gold-holdings,
and
this
is
done
so
that
the
gold-exporting
countries
don’t
increase
the
gold
prices.
Moreover,
India
with
its
gold
reserves
is
also
trying
to
strengthen
its
national
currency
and
economic
stature.