Ketan Kothari, Director, Augmont Goldtech Private Ltd
Augmont Goldtech Private Ltd, India’s integrated platform for gold, is working closely with the government to identify how gold idling in households can be recycled and channelised in a way to reduce imports of the precious metal, the company’s director Ketan Kothari has said.
“We are working on a lot of innovations, especially to make sure that India becomes self-reliant in meeting its gold demand. For example, today we have more than 30,000 tonnes of gold in households, and we can easily recycle a lot of that, channelise it in a way where imports can be reduced,” he told businessline in an online interaction.
The company, which is providing almost the infrastructure in the bullion sector, is trying to identify “the best means forward, trying to work out on product innovation, and is making inroads in that direction, Kothari said.
Moon shot
Augmont is piloting a project enabling retail customers to deposit their old gold and earn digital gold in return. “They can also lease it to jewellery manufacturers. We are also enabling large manufacturers to start putting their gold jewellery on a platform so that other jewellers can buy,” the company’s director said.
Augmont wants to “glitter a billion lives with the power of gold”. One of the company’s “moon shots” is to help the Government make India self-reliant in gold imports, he said.
Augmont is into process innovation also. It has now begun to use artificial intelligence (AI) for assessing the quality of gold. The company is using a lot of technology to understand the needs of consumers, he said.
“Our idea is to expand the gold for all stores and also work on increasing our partnerships both in the digital gold space and the spot platform,” said Kothari, adding that the company follows a tech-first approach.
IPO plans
Asked if the Augmont will go for initial public offering (IPO), he said companies need money and “we will have to raise money. If IPO is one of the needs and we’ll have to go for that also. But as of now, we are focusing on the business,” said Kothari.
The Augmont director said gold could face about 10 per cent deficit in 2025. “Of the 5,000 tons of gold mined and recycled, 3,700 tonnes are mined and 1,300 tonnes recycled. This year, the demand is expected to be roughly between 5,500 and 6,000 tonnes. One new factor which is added to the demand this year is ETF buying. This year could be one of the years of gold deficit. This will support prices further,” he said.
On the demand for the precious metal in the country, Kothari said it will continue, and there could be a situation where more investment could come into gold. On the consumption side, the demand will not go drop, but only increase.
Renisha Chainani, Head of Research at Augmont
Renisha Chainani, Head of Research at Augmont, said the demand for gold will likely be “exceptional”. Prices above ₹90,000 for 10 gm of gold and 1 kg of silver are a new normal. Gold prices may not drop below ₹86,300 per 10 gm, and silver’s downside could be around ₹85,085 a kg.
B2B and B2C platforms
Kothari said Augmont is present in the entire life cycle of gold, from refinery to retail. It has two platforms, one is a spot platform, which is B2B and being operated since 2008. It has over 5,000 jewellers as members. The other platform is B2C called Augmont Gold for All. It basically enables the customer for the entire life cycle for everything related to gold. This includes gifting gold to a newborn child or taking la oan for a new business or investing every month in gold. “Customers can buy gold for as low as ₹1.00. It’s called digital gold,” he said.
The company has over 75 “Gold for All” stores. Separately, it has 12 stores, looking old gold. The retail arm has over 40 million retail customers and it has more than 180 fintech partners, including Zepto and Bajaj Finance.
Chainani said a shift is being witnessed among consumers, who are now looking at 18-carat jewellery.
Kothari said, barring the north-east and certain regions such as Kashmir, Augmont is present across States in the country.
Published on June 3, 2025
