India's Gold Future Shifts to Pensions & ETFs, Says World Gold Council CEO

Speaking at the News18 India Rising Bharat Summit 2026 on Friday, Tait stated that while jewellery remains a cultural staple in India, the institutional and investment-driven segment represents the next phase of growth for the market.

"I think India's market is particularly well supported. It's part of your culture. But I do think the most notable part of the future of Indian gold demand will be your institutions, and as your pension funds and insurance funds manage to, I suppose, embed it within portfolios. That is still relatively nascent. We all know jewellery is not nascent in India. It's certainly well established," he said.

India's total gold demand reached 711 tonnes in 2025, representing an 11 per cent decline from the previous year. Jewellery demand fell to 440 tonnes, a 24 per cent drop attributed to the rapid rally in prices. However, Tait noted that investment bar and coin demand rose by 17 per cent year-on-year. He highlighted that younger investors are turning toward gold-backed Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), with 25 such instruments launching in India last year alone.

"Some of you may have realised that the insurance industry has been opened to gold for the very first time. That's a USD 5 trillion market. You've also got in India, the growth of the ETF world, which is, I think, providing a very attractive way for younger people to buy gold. Twenty-five ETFs, I think, opened last year alone in India. Perhaps your younger generation, alongside their jewelry will want to hold gold in various other forms, for instance, like gold-backed ETFs, as an example," he noted.

Discussing global price drivers, Tait identified six to seven factors supporting a continued rally, with the fear of national debt levels being the primary catalyst. "I think debt is still running through this fear," Tait said, noting that there is currently no prospect of decreasing national debts. Other factors include geopolitical tensions, consistent central bank purchases of approximately 1,000 tonnes annually, and the deregulation of China's 5 trillion dollar insurance market, which has opened to gold for the first time.

Central banks in developing nations continue to accumulate gold as a defensive measure to bolster financial security and divest from Western financial links. Tait observed that these institutions manage their reserves as portfolios and show little inclination toward selling despite high valuations. "I expect central banks to keep on accumulating," he said, adding that many central banks view their gold holdings as static security rather than assets to be rebalanced.

The World Gold Council is also prioritising the digitalisation of the gold market to reduce capital barriers and increase transparency. "Digitalisation, the World Gold Council sees digitalisation as the future of gold," he stated.

Tait detailed a program for digitally allocated gold, which allows for legal ownership of fractionalized physical bars. "This will mean, most importantly, that the banks that have previously been holding gold on their balance sheets... will be able to use and pledge this gold as collateral for the very first time in history," Tait explained.

This infrastructure is intended to support the eventual growth of gold tokens and other digital financial products.

- ANI