New Delhi, May 13 -- India's relationship with gold is entering a new phase. For decades, gold was viewed largely as a macroeconomic problem, a major import that widened the current account deficit and increased dependence on volatile foreign capital. But the global environment has changed sharply. Today, gold sits at the intersection of geopolitics, household finance, inflation, currency stability and economic resilience.

The question is no longer whether Indians buy 'too much' gold. The more important question is whether India can redesign its gold economy for an era of prolonged global uncertainty.

That shift matters because the world economy itself is becoming structurally more volatile.

Wars in West Asia and Eastern Europe, supply...