Vaults, Values, and ETFs: India’s 5,000-Year Affair with Precious Metals
In ancient Kerala, wealth didn’t just sit in vaults.
It shimmered at the edge of a saree.
The “kasavu” - a handwoven golden border was stitched into Kerala’s traditional white mundu or saree.
It wasn’t just decoration. It was a declaration.
The broader the kasavu, the deeper the pockets.
Prosperity was literally woven into fabric.
Gold was never just a metal.
It was poetry, power, and proof wrapped around wrists, melted into coins, or carved into temple towers.
The gleam in jewellery boxes was also the gleam of social standing.
Even today, from wedding rituals to wealth planning, that love affair hasn’t dulled; it’s just changed its form.
And if there’s one thing this country has always done consistently, it’s turning emotion into an economy.
Vaults of Faith, Banks of Belief
Consider Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Kerala and its sealed vaults which are rumoured to store more gold than many central banks.
Crowns, coins, chains, emeralds and rubies spill (figuratively) from secret underground chambers.
Truly, faith there has been measured not just in devotion but in deposits.
And it isn’t alone.
At Vaishno Devi in Jammu, over the past two decades, pilgrims have offered more than 1,800 kg of gold and 4,700 kg of silver, a continuous inflow that underlines how deep India’s relationship with gold and silver goes.
Temples aren’t just guardians of spirituality; they’ve been vaults of value.
It’s not an anomaly; it’s an inheritance.
Ancient India was among the world’s earliest gold economies.
Mauryan emperors minted coins to mark victories; Mughals moulded mohurs that carried dynastic prestige.
Even silver, in ancient Egypt and India alike, held a revered place.
Known as “white gold” and prized for its purity and permanence.
Empires fell, borders shifted, and currencies changed.
Yet, the one constant that never devalued was metal.
Traders back then knew what we still do today.
Gold is the only currency that doesn’t need an introduction.
Centuries later the platforms may have changed, but the faith hasn’t.
The Modern Alchemy: ETFs, Exchanges & Emotion
The modern investor doesn’t slip gold coins into temple vaults anymore.
They slip SIPs into ETFs.
The instinct, though? Exactly the same.
Admiration has just moved from sanctums to screens.
And 2025? It’s been a full-blown bullion carnival.
Gold’s shining, sure but silver has totally stolen the afterparty.
Inflows into silver ETFs have rocketed to ₹8,603 crore in just eight months, over three times what gold managed.
Domestic silver prices have climbed 53% this year, outpacing gold’s already-glittery 49% run.
Some silver funds are up 50–55%, while gold ETFs have sparkled with 62% returns.
Globally, investors added 95 million ounces of silver to ETF vaults in just six months, taking the total stash to a blinding 1.13 billion ounces about $40 billion worth of shine.
Back home, the MCX has turned into the new sanctum of sentiment.
October’s bullion volumes went through the roof, and MCX’s own stock shot up 19% to an all-time high of ₹9,460.
The exchange even nudged up margins.
1% for gold and 1.5% for silver to keep the sparkle from turning into a stampede.
Did traders flinch? Not a bit.
Analysts upgraded MCX’s revenue and EPS forecasts by 7–9%, cheering booming options premiums and a rush of institutional action.
And it’s not just the yellow and the white metals doing the moonwalk.
Copper, aluminium, and zinc too have joined the groove, fired up by India’s infrastructure spree, EV manufacturing push, and renewable buildouts.
Even the near-month silver futures expiring this December are buzzing like Diwali crackers fed by festive buying and industrial tailwinds.
Meanwhile, the RBI’s polishing its own collection.
It’s sitting on 794.63 metric tonnes of gold worth ₹5.8 lakh crore making up roughly 7.5% of India’s forex reserves.
Lending norms just got their own makeover too: the Loan-to-Value cap for gold and silver loans has been raised to 85% for sums up to ₹2.5 lakh.
And in a very 2025 move, silver now officially qualifies as collateral under the new Lending Against Gold and Silver Collateral Directions.
For traders, this isn’t trivia, it’s portfolio poetry.
Every metal hums its own tune: gold hums fear, silver hums industry, copper hums growth.
And when they all hit the same note, it’s a full-blown market symphony.
Borosil Renewables, Hindustan Zinc, Titan, and MCX are already catching the rhythm, drawing investor attention like magpies to jewellery.
Metals are no longer a niche play, they’re a narrative.
A glittering one that stretches all the way from commodities to consumption, from vaults to valuations.
Because sometimes, the markets don’t just rise, they gleam.
The New Shine: Old Faith, New Format
Actually, it’s really funny - the kasavu on a saree, the silver lotas in an ancestral home, the gold crowns of Kerala’s temples have all taught India a simple investing principle long before we ever had ETFs: BUY WHAT ENDURES!
That’s what this latest rally reaffirms.
Gold and silver aren’t fads; they’re foundations.
The same emotional asset that marked wealth in a royal treasury now moves the Sensex when it rallies.
As India’s investors grow more sophisticated, the pattern remains old-fashioned.
Seek safety when the world gets uncertain and look for shine where others see shadows.
So, the next time gold crosses another milestone rate or silver sparkles on your portfolio dashboard, remember this isn’t a new trade.
It’s a 5,000-year-old habit finding a new expression.
Because in India, metal has never just been wealth.
It’s memory, meaning, and margin all gleaming in one frame.
Sources and References:
- TIMESOFINDIA
- ECONOMICTIMES
- WIKIPEDIA
- IIMA
- ENROUTEINDIANHISTORY
- GARFIELDREFINING
- METMUSEUM
- HINDUSTANTIMES
- NEWINDIANEXPRESS
- SAMCO
- SAKSHIPOST
- INDIALAW
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. It is not produced by the desk of the Kotak Securities Research Team, nor is it a report published by the Kotak Securities Research Team. The information presented is compiled from several secondary sources available on the internet and may change over time. Investors should conduct their own research and consult with financial professionals before making any investment decisions. The above images were generated using AI. Read the full disclaimer here.
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