National News
Union Minister Pralhad Joshi Proposes Mandatory Hallmarking for Silver Jewellery
Union Minister for Food and Consumer Affairs, Pralhad Joshi, on Monday urged the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) to consider making hallmarking of silver jewellery and artifact mandatory, keeping in mind consumer demand. Joshi stated that the BIS has begun consultations with stakeholders and a feasibility study is underway.
After getting feedback and completing the study, the Government will make a decision on the matter. Stakeholders from states like Gujarat and Karnataka have called for the inclusion of mandatory hallmarking for silver.
BIS Director General, Pramod Kumar Tiwari announced that the bureau may be ready to implement this within 3-6 months.
The move comes after the successful rollout of mandatory gold hallmarking in 288 districts, which now covers 361 districts. Approximately 90% of gold jewellery is now hallmarked, with over 4.28 crore items certified. While silver hallmarking is currently voluntary, it is expected to enhance consumer trust, make jewellery easier to pricing, and improve resale value if made mandatory.
India’s appetite for borrowing against gold is reshaping the country’s credit landscape. Outstanding gold-backed loans have surged 128% from a year earlier, crossing Rs.4 lakh crore ($48 billion) for the first time, according to data from the Reserve Bank of India. As of Jan. 31, loans secured by gold jewellery stood at Rs.4,00,517 crore, marking one of the fastest expansions in retail credit in recent years.
The boom in gold loans has helped propel overall non-food bank credit growth to 14.4% year-on-year. Personal loans now account for 34.5% of total bank lending, outpacing other segments and underscoring a broader shift toward consumer-driven credit expansion
Gold loans alone contributed roughly 9% of incremental bank credit during the period. Between January 2024 and January 2026, outstanding gold-backed credit rose by nearly Rs.3.1 lakh crore—an increase of about 338% over two years—more than quadrupling the size of the portfolio.
Two factors are driving the surge. First, gold prices have climbed roughly 152% over the past two years, increasing the collateral value of household holdings. Second, regulatory guidance requiring banks to classify loans secured by gold explicitly as gold loans has sharpened reporting and accelerated balance-sheet growth in the segment.
The trend highlights a distinctive feature of India’s financial system: households’ vast stock of physical gold, long viewed primarily as a store of wealth, is increasingly being mobilized as collateral for formal credit.
While personal lending and credit to nonbank financial companies within the services sector continue to expand rapidly, industrial credit remains uneven. Loans to micro, small and medium enterprises are growing steadily, but borrowing by large corporations has stayed relatively muted.
Since March 21, 2025, banks have added Rs.21.8 lakh crore to their non-food loan books, translating into 12% growth for the financial year to date. Yet it is gold—rather than factories or infrastructure—that is emerging as one of the most dynamic engines of India’s current credit cycle.
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