India's appetite for gold insatiable as ever

It's seen as a portable form of wealth in a country where stocks and bonds are sometimes viewed with suspicion. As the Indian economy steams ahead by more than eight percent annually in the past four years, an ever increasing stream of money is going into gold purchases. Over generations, Indian households have accumulated an estimated 15,000 tonnes of gold worth $320 billion -- 40 times the amount of gold held by the country's central bank and nearly double the amount held by the U.S. central bank. "Gold is considered an investment for life, so Indian women continue buying it, to be given away to their daughters or grand-daughters," said Rashmi Sanyal, a journalist in New Delhi. Gold is important for people hit by floods that kill hundreds and displace millions in India every year, as it means villagers faced with the dangers of flooding can carry their wealth with them