New Delhi, Aug. 5 -- Walk into any Indian household and you'll find the same quiet ritual: a portion of every month's income set aside, often without a second thought, into gold, a fixed deposit or a piece of land. It is one of the most disciplined savings cultures anywhere in the world.

Yet, look closely at where that discipline is taking us, and a paradox emerges: Indian households are saving more diligently than ever, while the productive share of those savings has been quietly shrinking.

Gold and silver alone drew in roughly Rs.65,000 crore in a single year, despite the explosion of SIP culture and fintech-led investing. Gold imports have nearly doubled since 2017-18, crossing Rs.4.89 lakh crore in FY25. Meanwhile, on the other side...