India is one of the largest consumers of gold, whereas gold loan penetration is just under 4%. Gold prices are largely stable post FY14, which augurs very well for loan growth as well as for asset quality. Acceptance towards pledging family gold for meeting short term needs is gaining popularity not only in the less penetrated rural markets, but also the urban markets. Given the complete secured nature of lending, its credit cost is lowest with in the NBFC space. Consolidation is happening in favor of specialised gold financing companies as it operates with a smaller ticket size, requires faster processing and demands expertise in a host of operational aspects such as...