India is definitely not a significant ‘maker’ of gold, as it has no major utilitarian mother lodes. Thus all the gold consumed is brought into our country. Consequently the production network and strategies of gold, from bullion bars and unpleasant stones that are brought into our country, to the assembling and dispersion of completed gold and precious stone gems, is both an entrancing, intriguing and significant subject. As an everyday person, we don’t understand or try and contemplate the intricacy and criticality of such valuable freight coordinated factors.
Historically, this movement was done by the jewellers themselves, or with “Angadias”, who discretely carry such precious shipments, using either personal transportation or public transportation like trains and local buses. These movements are carried out primarily on a trust basis, and most often without adequate security/documentation/ insurance coverage. There are innumerable instances of external attacks & robbery, to internal pilferage & fraud. The entire supply chain used to be completely opaque, closed and informal, with almost no scope for recourse if things were to go wrong.
