Indian Investors Offered More Silver Product Choices

With the introduction of new investment products, Indian investors now have greater opportunities for silver investing beyond holding physical silver, which has traditionally been their favored way for investing in the white metal, according to a recently-published Silver Institute Market Trend Report, “Trends in Indian Investment Demand.” With the introduction of new options, including silver exchange-traded products (ETPs) and digital silver, Indian investors have opportunities to invest in liquid investments without the need to worry about storage of the physical silver. As the world’s sixth-largest economy and foremost silver fabricator, India also plays an essential role in silver and gold investment demand, historically recognized in that market as savings and investment assets, a reflection of the low penetration of banking and other financial products. Today, with new investment products available to Indian investors, India’s role in silver investment has the potential to grow. Since 2010, India’s physical silver investment (bars and coins) has accounted for one-third of overall Indian silver demand. During this time, Indian retail investors bought around 730 million ounces (Moz) of silver, representing 90 percent of 2022’s global silver mine production. However, the report notes that since 2014, some notable policy and regulatory changes in India have structurally altered investment in precious metals, potentially limiting physical investment. These changes have included the government’s push to provide banking services to the entire population and the crackdown on tax evasion and cash transactions. These changes, however, have served to spur new options for investing in silver.

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