'Gold tourism' on the cards for Indian temples

In a first of its kind, India may see the advent of sc-called ‘gold tourism’, with antique jewellery held by various temples for centuries being put on display for domestic and foreign tourists. Security, of course, will be very tight for such displays, if the proposal for such displays from the World Gold Council (WGC) goes through.

Currently, some high value antique pieces of jewellery are kept in a few of museums in the world, but a dedicated gold tourism model is yet to be tried anywhere ever.

The WGC has engaged the services of industry body Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) to conduct a six-month study on the feasibility of such a tourism model. The findings of the study will be sent to relevant ministries for creating required infrastructure either by the government or temple trusts.

While the proposal is at a nascent stage, such ‘gold tourism’ holds large earning potential for temples. Temples have an option to deposit gold, jewellery under the government’s new Gold Monetisation Scheme (GMS) but many old temples possess antique jewellery that cannot be as easily monetised. One way of doing so would be to charge a viewing fee for these antiquities.

“The objective of ‘gold tourism’ is to keep jewellery on display for public viewing at a fee. This would increase temples’ earnings,” said Somasundaram P R, managing director, World Gold Council (WGC) (India).

Various estimates suggest India’s temples hold around a fifth of the 22,000-25,000 tonnes of gold holdings in the country. Some of these temples have been accumulating gold since their establishment going back a few hundred years. What’s more, these temples have not disposed of gold ornaments gifted by donors since then.

“The idea is not bad. But, infrastructure and securities could be a big challenge. Some temples in India, however, can do it,” said Rajesh Mehta, managing director of Rajesh Exports, which runs around 70 retail chains under the Shubh Jewellers name.

In its Vision 2020 document released in 2014, the WGC had envisaged setting up a “gold tourism circuit” with participation from one or more jewellers to keep hand-crafted jewellery on display for tourists. Jewellers, too, had welcomed the idea but little progress was made , likely due to the involvement of too many jewellers, lack of regulating guidelines, and differences over selection of jewellery.

Individual temples, however, have the advantage of creating their own infrastructure and keeping  ornaments on display under their own surveillance and monitoring. Security measures can also be beefed up and controlled by the temple trusts.

Additionally, such displays will also help modern craftspersons to re-design an existing piece for a better price.

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'Gold tourism' on the cards for Indian temples