New Delhi, May 17 -- With gold prices surging amid escalating West Asia tensions, concerns over rising imports and pressure on foreign exchange reserves have intensified. Days after Narendra Modi urged citizens to avoid non-essential imports such as gold and foreign travel, the government raised customs duty on gold and silver to 15% from 6% to conserve forex for critical needs like energy and fertilisers.

India, the world's second-largest gold consumer after China, relies heavily on imports to meet jewellery demand. Gold imports rose over 24% to a record $71.98 billion in 2025-26, although import volumes fell 4.76% to 721.03 tonnes

Amid these developments, a post by Nikhil Kamath went viral, where he pitched the idea of a gold-backed s...