- 61% of gold owners and buyers would avoid gold purchases for a year after Modi's appeal
- India's gold imports hit a record $71.98 billion in FY26, up 24% from FY25
- Gold import volume fell 4.76% to 721.03 tonnes due to higher global gold prices
Up to 61% of gold owners and buyers said they would avoid buying gold for a year following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's appeal to curb non-essential purchases to help conserve foreign exchange reserves, according to a survey by LocalCircles
The findings come as India's gold imports touched a record high in FY26, increasing pressure on foreign exchange outflows at a time of global economic uncertainty linked to military tensions between the US and Israel.
Prime Minister Modi last week urged citizens to avoid non-essential gold purchases for one year. "We have to save foreign exchange by any means," he said at an event in Hyderabad.
According to the LocalCircles report released on Saturday, 66% of respondents said avoiding gold purchases for a year would help conserve foreign exchange reserves. India imported $71.98 billion worth of gold in FY26, up more than 24% from $58 billion in FY25, according to commerce ministry data cited in the report.
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The report said gold import volumes fell 4.76% year-on-year to 721.03 tonnes from 757.09 tonnes, indicating that higher global prices drove the rise in import value. "Gold prices rose from approximately $76,617 per kg in FY 2024-25 to approximately $99,825 per kg in FY 2025-26," the report stated.
Gold and silver imports together rose 26.7% year-on-year to $102.5 billion in FY26, with their share in India's total imports increasing to 14% from 11.8% in the previous fiscal, according to the report.
India is the world's second-largest gold consumer after China. Of the 84,000 responses surveyed, 28% said they would "significantly" reduce gold purchases, while 36% said they were unlikely to buy gold over the next year.
Another 19% said they would continue buying gold only for weddings or family traditions despite the prime minister's appeal. A further 19% said they would continue purchasing gold because they viewed it as the safest investment during periods of uncertainty.
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