Ahmedabad, 26 November 14: Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA) and the World Gold Council (WGC), today, announced the setting up of the ‘India Gold Policy Centre’. A first-of-its-kind initiative, the centre is aimed towards conducting cutting-edge research on all aspects of the Indian gold industry.

 The objective of the ‘India Gold Policy Centre’ is to develop insights into how the significant stocks of gold that India owns can be used to advance growth, employment, social inclusion and the economic wealth of the nation. The Centre aims to conduct research that has a practical application and that the industry and all stakeholders can use, leading to the development of an effective gold ecosystem in the country.

“As part of the initiative taken by IIMA to connect more closely with practice, and in line with our vision to contribute and reach out to industry, the Gold Centre will provide innovative solutions and insights for the gold industry through cutting-edge research,” said Prof. Ashish Nanda, Director, IIMA. “The research is intended to study the growth and development of the gold industry in India and globally. I am thankful to the World Gold Council for supporting this initiative,” he added.

The move will help IIMA enhance its research environment. The management school has recently been engaging with different organisations and industry bodies to support and encourage research at the institute.

Likewise, the World Gold Council also believes there is a need for rigorous research on how gold can benefit our economy and society as a whole.

Commenting on the collaboration, Somasundaram PR, Managing Director, India, World Gold Council said:

“It is estimated that India holds around 22,000 tonnes of gold valued at over a trillion US dollars. This historic asset can be used to enhance the nation’s prosperity by putting it to work for the economy, creating jobs, developing skills, generating exports and revenues. To develop gold’s potential, we need to understand gold’s role in the Indian economy, through high quality data, insights and research.”

“It is important that the Centre is established by a highly respected academic body, so we approached the IIMA to establish a dedicated and exclusive ‘India Gold Policy Centre’. This will be a world class centre of excellence, conducting cutting edge applied research on the Indian gold industry, providing analytics, data and pragmatic recommendations that can be used by all stakeholders. Our joint vision is that the Centre will be the foremost provider of insights into the way in which gold contributes to our economy and our society,” he added.

Situated within the campus of IIMA, the Centre is being set up with a financial grant from the World Gold Council and will operate independently. The Centre will commence its operations from December 2014.

You can follow the World Gold Council on Twitter at @goldcouncil and Like on Facebook

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For further information please contact:

Rakhi Khanna
World Gold Council
T   +91 22 6157 9107
M  +91 998 704 5485
E   [email protected]

Mihir Mukherjee
Edelman
T   +91 (22) 43530260
M  +91 9987556960
E   [email protected]

Ujjal Kumar Dey,
IIM, Ahmedabad
T +91 079 66324683
M +91 9909966212
E [email protected]

Note to editors:

IIMA
IIMA has consistently been ranked as the number one management school in the country year after year in the last several years. In its latest ranking, The Economist has ranked IIMA at 56 among the top 100 international B-schools in the world that offer full time MBA. The Financial Times (FT) has ranked the two-year post graduate programme in management (PGP) of IIMA in the top ten programmes in the category of Masters Programmes in Management that do not require work experience as pre-requisite for admission. FT reported that this was the first time that any Indian B-school was not only included in the survey but also achieved such high ranking. The Financial Times has also ranked the one-year post graduate programme in management for executives (PGPX) among the top MBA programmes globally. The two post graduate programme in management with specialization in agri-sector (PGP-ABM) is ranked at number one among comparable programmes globally by Eduniversal.

World Gold Council
The World Gold Council is the market development organisation for the gold industry. Working within the investment, jewellery and technology sectors, as well as engaging in government affairs, our purpose is to provide industry leadership, whilst stimulating and sustaining demand for gold.

We develop gold-backed solutions, services and markets, based on true market insight. As a result, we create structural shifts in demand for gold across key market sectors.

We provide insights into the international gold markets, helping people to better understand the wealth preservation qualities of gold and its role in meeting the social and environmental needs of society.

Based in the UK, with operations in India, the Far East, Europe and the US, the World Gold Council is an association whose members include the world’s leading and most forward thinking gold mining companies.