India's 2012 gold demand to moderate as disposable income drops

MUMBAI: Gold demand in India, the world's leading buyer, is likely to moderate in 2012 as higher inflation trims disposable income, Ajay Mitra, managing director of India and the Middle East at the World Gold Council, told Reuters on Thursday.

In 2011, the country's gold demand was 933.4 tonnes. India's vast gold jewellery market suffered a 19 percent drop in demand in the first quarter of the year, and investment demand tumbled 46 percent, pressured by a weak and volatile rupee among others.