More consumers in India are turning to gold bullion as a form of investment, according to one expert.

Kumar Shivram, vice president of the World Gold Council, said that the yellow metal is now performing significantly better than other asset classes in the country, the Press Trust of India reports.

He explained that those investing in gold had seen an average return on investment of between 30 and 35 per cent last year.

According to industry figures, consumer demand for gold jewelry has risen to 773.6 tons this year compared with 721.9 tons last year.

"We can safely say gold is an investment for the consumers in the market," Mr Shivram said.

In related news, Ravi Mehrotra of AIG Investments recently told Business Line that gold is now more of a mainstream asset class than it was previously, thanks to investors' increasing appetite for diversification.

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