NDTV World Summit 2026: Can Gold Replace US Dollar? What Experts Think
India will mine its own gold over the next few years, with over 20 to 30 per cent of consumption in the country coming from domestic sources, Sachin Jain, Regional CEO- India, World Gold Council, said at the NDTV World Summit 2026.
Jain made the comments as part of a panel discussion on 'Connecting Corridors: Global Capital Flows, Trade, and India's Digital Leap'. The panel discussed whether gold or central bank digital currency (CBDC) can reduce dependence on the US dollar.
He explained that the price of gold has not moved up over the past year due to several reasons. Jain added that the World Gold Council still sees the precious metal as a long-term asset.
“With the current world order and how its things are evolving, the importance of gold, as I said, geographically and also sectorally, will get more and more important,” he added.
Can The US Dollar Be Replaced?
In a time of increasing bilateral agreements being signed and people advocating for reduced dependence on the US dollar, finding the price for an alternative currency is a big challenge for financial institutions, said Tushar Vikram, Country Head and CEO of Mashreq India.
He cited measures such as the opening of special purpose rupee accounts by foreign correspondent banks as a measure to settle international trade in Indian rupees. He cautioned that such arrangements form only a small percentage of global trade.
Ashish Singhal, the co-founder of CoinSwitch & Lemonn, commented on the possibility of CBDCs being the future of international trade.
He predicted that a lot of CBDCs would come up over the next few years. He added that blockchain and the Web3 ecosystem are easier technologies for global banks to adopt compared to integrating with tech that is specifically built for India.
Deep Agrawal, PhonePe's Head of Payments, mentioned that blockchain is super useful for cross-border transactions and settlements.
Tushar Vikram also highlighted the role blockchain plays in documentary storage and transmission. He said that the technology is “cutting down cycle times by days, not hours.”
#NDTVWorldSummit2026 | Watch this insightful discussion on 'Connecting Corridors: Global Capital Flows, Trade, and India's Digital Leap' with Ashish Singhal, Tushar Vikram, Deep Agrawal, and Sachin Jain @alexandermats #NDTVWorldSummit https://t.co/ZkQRwLKUmQ
— NDTV (@ndtv) October 22, 2026
Tokenisation Of Gold Possible?
Jain said that apart from mining gold, several other changes are set to come over the next two decades.
He forecast that India would be a “value-added exporter of gold jewellery to the world.”
He also emphasised that tokenisation can help gold become accessible like any other asset class and enable its seamless movement.
The panelists also weighed in on the possibility of gold as a currency backer. Tushar Vikram said that he was not in favour of the idea due to the high transaction costs.
However, the metal may become “one of the methods which can be used to supplement” currencies, he added.
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