India pilots retail gold leasing to mobilise about 2.5 tonnes of idle household holdings

India is piloting retail gold leasing that lets households lend idle gold, in digital or physical form, to jewellers in exchange for gold-denominated returns. Only a handful of platforms, including SafeGold and myGold, currently offer the product and there is no dedicated regulatory framework. The approach is pitched as a way to put roughly 2.5 tonnes of privately held gold to work and reduce reliance on imports, but participation remains low and trust and infrastructure are still developing. At this stage, it has not meaningfully affected global gold supply-demand or prices.