New Delhi, April 22 -- Gold worth nearly USD 700 billion lying idle in Indian households could be a powerful engine to fund the country's growth, Kotak Mahindra AMC Managing Director Nilesh Shah said, calling for a stronger push towards monetisation of household gold.

In an exclusive interview with ANI, Shah underscored that India's long-standing cultural preference for holding gold as a store of value has inadvertently locked up vast capital outside the formal economy.

"Collectively India has spent 700 billion dollars... for import of precious metal... It is more than the foreign direct investment we have received... It is more than the foreign portfolio investment we have received."

He pointed out that a significant portion of this g...