Why do the Indians have so much gold and what is the reason for its intense yellow color
There is always a lot of gold in the shots from India, where there are women and men in national clothes. Some residents of this country are literally hung with jewelry made of precious metal like Christmas trees. Due to the fact that these products are very unusual, intensely yellow in color, some even doubt that the gold is real. So how are things with Indian jewelry really?
Every year, India consumes approximately 700 tons of gold for its own needs. Not all of the gold goes to jewelry and luxury items – the lion's share of it is spent on electronic parts, elements of scientific equipment and other important needs. In terms of gold consumption, India is second only to its neighbor China in the world.
As for the conditional "gold reserve" of the country, most of the yellow metal that is not involved in production settles in the hands of the country's residents, or rather, a small part of the population that can afford it. But since we see Indians most often in films, it seems that Indian women do not leave the house without a kilogram of gold on themselves.
Indian women are the most "gilded" in the world, because according to Hindu traditions, gold brings happiness, well-being and the favor of the gods. No one even doubts this. Gold products in this country are the most popular and desired gift – at the weddings of rich couples, gold can be given in kilograms!
India is on the 4th place in the world in terms of imports of precious metal from other countries. According to statistics, in 2019, India bought $ 32.1 billion worth of gold! This is due to the fact that the country itself produces only 2-3 tons of gold per year in its bowels. To understand how small this is, it is necessary to clarify that the leaders of the world market extract 300-500 tons every year.
The country is working on this problem – in 2020, a promising deposit was found in one of the provinces, the reserves of which are 3 times higher than the volumes of gold in the state storages of the country. It is quite possible that the situation will change soon and India will start spending less on purchases abroad, but there is still a lot of work to do for this.
Despite the fact that there is very little gold in India, its residents own from 9 to 11% of the total gold of the planet. The cult of the precious metal that reigns in the country leads to the fact that even Hindus living near the poverty line try to raise money and buy at least a small gold product. As for the Indian temples, according to the most conservative estimates, up to 4,000 tons of gold have accumulated there!
Gold is not only a symbol of happiness and well-being, but also the hardest currency in the country. Jewelry and just gold bars are stored in rich families as a deposit for the future, as well as as a dowry for children's weddings. The popularity of such investments is facilitated by the fact that in India, the purchase of gold by individuals is not taxed and does not require any reporting to the state.
But why is Indian gold so bright yellow? Whether this is caused by its poor quality – in a country that produces a scanty amount of metal, but spends hundreds of tons of it, this would be a logical conclusion. No, gold in India is so yellow, just because it is there of a high sample, corresponding to our 958 (23 carats).
We are surprised by this color because we were accustomed to gold products of low, 583 samples (14 carats). For a self-respecting Hindu, this is not gold at all – only an alloy of a bright, sunny color, with the maximum content of a valuable metal, is quoted in the country.
The Vietnamese can easily compete with the Indians in terms of craving for gold products. Just look at this guy who carries 13 kg of precious metal on him every day.
Keywords: India | Asia | Peoples | Gold | Jewelry | Color | Gold mining