New Delhi, June 8 -- India sits atop a paradox wrought in gold. It is the world's second-largest consumer of the metal, a civilizational love affair stretching back millennia. Yet it remains structurally dependent on imports to feed that appetite.

As gold prices rise, geopolitical fractures worsen and India's current account deficit widens, it is time for the country to re-imagine its relationship with gold: not as a commodity to be hoarded or imported at ever-greater cost, but as a strategic asset to be refined, circulated and exported.

The numbers tell a striking story. India's foreign exchange reserves increased from $112 billion in 2004 to $341 billion in 2015 and stood at $682 billion at the end of May 2026. Even more remarkable is...