mumbai may 4 gold demand in india increased by 15 per cent during the first quarter of 2017 to 1235 tonne signalling a return of optimism in the industry according to world gold council wgc the total gold demand in the country stood at 1073 tonne in the januarymarch of 2016 impacted by jewellers strike over excise duty introduction in value the gold demand grew by 18 per cent in q1 2017 to rs 32420 crore against rs 27540 crore in q1 2016 according to the wgcs q1 gold demand trends report demand in q1 2017 was up 15 per cent though this is against the low base of q1 2016 that was impacted by jewellers strike on excise duty introduction it signals both a return of optimism and the resilience of this industry that has been living with some tough challenges since 2013 wgc managing director india somasundaram pr told here he said the rupee appreciation protected indian households from the hike in dollar prices giving them an additional reason to meet the gold demand that was created in 2016 following demonetisation and other regulatory measures against unaccounted wealth total jewellery demand was up by 16 per cent at 923 tonne in the fist quarter of 2017 compared to 798 tonne in the same period last year the value of jewellery demand was rs 24220 crore a rise of 18 per cent from rs 20484 crore q1 2016 total investment demand for the period was up by 14 per cent at 312 tonne against 275 tonne in the same period of 2016 in value terms gold investment demand rose by 16 per cent at rs 8200 crore from rs 7050 crore in q1 2016 recycling went up by 3 per cent in q1 2017 to 145 tonnes compared to 14 tonne in q1 2016 the total imports during januarymarch period rose by 112 per cent to 2701 tonne from 1274 tonne in q1 2016 wedding demand that accounts for 4050 per cent of jewellery bars and coins demand was strong in the first quarter opportunistic purchasing by investors and an increase in restocking means the gold market is likely to maintain a healthy uptake for the first half of 2017 the forecast for normal monsoons could also play a role in stabilising consumer demand in the second half of the year somasundaram added the combination of the wedding season akshaya tritiya festival and continued remonetisation of indias economy should support gold jewellery demand he said wgc maintains its full year demand forecast at 650750 tonne considering the shortterm challenges arising from the pan card registration restrictions on cash transactions and the introduction of goods and services tax gst he said there are concerns about transitioning to gst that will be introduced from july 2017 though the introduction of gst is widely welcomed by organised players there are concerns about the level of tax gst coupled with import duty needs to be below the current level of 12 per