Gold prices in India are climbing again — even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call to hold off on gold purchases for a year remains officially in force. On Monday, 24 karat gold rose ₹2,930 for 10 grams to a national benchmark of ₹1,46,720, up from Friday's ₹1,43,790. That's on top of a ₹3,020 jump on Friday, meaning gold has added close to ₹6,000 per 10 grams in just two sessions. 22 karat gold now stands at ₹1,34,490 and 18 karat at ₹1,10,040 per 10 grams.
Chennai continues to be the most expensive city for buyers, with 24K gold at ₹1,49,450 for 10 grams, a premium driven by local taxes and Tamil Nadu jewellers' association pricing. Delhi follows closely at ₹1,46,870. Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kerala and Pune are all trading at the national benchmark rate.
Why the advisory exists in the first place
In May, Modi urged Indians at a public event in Hyderabad to postpone gold purchases for a year, alongside calls to cut fuel use, work from home, and avoid non-essential foreign travel. The appeal was tied directly to the economic strain from the US-Israel war on Iran, which pushed crude oil prices up sharply and put pressure on India's foreign exchange reserves and the rupee.
The logic centers on India's import bill. The country imported gold worth $72 billion in FY26, the second-highest in the world after China, and gold purchases require foreign exchange in the same way oil imports do. With crude oil prices having jumped roughly 50% since the conflict began and India importing nearly 88-89% of its oil needs, the government has been trying to reduce every avoidable source of dollar demand to protect the rupee and the current account deficit — which the IMF had projected could reach $84 billion for 2026.
Why the advisory hasn't cooled demand — or prices
Unlike fuel consumption or foreign travel, gold buying in India is deeply tied to weddings, festivals and long-term saving habits, making a voluntary advisory difficult to enforce and, evidently, not fully effective at curbing demand. Meanwhile, the price rally itself isn't being driven by Indian retail demand at all — it's a global story. Weak US jobs data has cooled expectations of a near-term Federal Reserve rate hike, weakening the dollar and making gold more attractive worldwide. Central banks also added a net 41 metric tons to reserves in May, reinforcing the uptrend.
The tension for Indian buyers
This creates an unusual dynamic: households are being asked to delay gold purchases on national economic grounds, right as global forces are pushing prices higher anyway. For anyone waiting on the sidelines per the advisory, that likely means paying more if and when they eventually buy. For others, higher prices may reinforce Modi's original message, since every gram bought now draws more foreign exchange out of the country than it would have a few months ago.
With India's crude import bill still elevated and the rupee under pressure, the advisory is unlikely to be withdrawn soon — but it's competing against a global rally that has little to do with Indian policy. Buyers should expect continued volatility, driven less by domestic sentiment and more by the Fed's rate path and the trajectory of the West Asia conflict.