Last Updated : 02 February 2010 at 17:30 IST

WGC asks India to change tax on gold investment

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MUMBAI (Commodity Online): Even though platinum and palladium are all set to give better returns, the World Gold Council has recommended that the present global economic scenario still favours investing in gold.

According to WGC, a renewed interest in investing in gold worldwide is witnessed now. In India, the underlying appetite to invest in gold to protect wealth shows signs of increasing. The Reserve Bank of India itself had purchased 200 tonnes of gold in October from the IMF. However, in India, subsequent to the 1992 reforms, there have been no major moves to further liberalise the gold investment market.

World Gold Council believes that there needs to be a change to the regulatory definition of gold in India. While gold has been increasingly viewed as an investment asset in international markets, in India the yellow metal is still being treated as a commodity.

Furthermore, if gold is to be treated as an investment option, its role for income tax benefits, especially for working women and the bottom of the pyramid segment, must be clarified.

Speaking at a panel discussion organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry, Ajay Mitra, Managing Director, India, World Gold Council said: “There are a number of ways of accessing the investment benefits of gold and it is time that the Indian government started considering it for the provision of income tax benefits, at least for working women and for the bottom level in the income tax brackets. Gold should play a more significant role in the sustainable growth of the Indian economy and WGC welcomes the increasing pressure on Government to enable this.”

Portfolios that contain even a small allocation of gold are proven to be generally more robust and better able to cope with market uncertainties than those that do not. Research conducted by the World Gold Council highlights a need for the Pension & Insurance Corpus to diversify its investment assets to create greater stability in the portfolio.