A month back when gold loan company Muthoot Finance floated its IPO, it was oversubscribed 24.5 times.

A year back, India was the strongest growth market for gold, with consumer demand going up 66%. And, going forward, the organised gold loan market in India is expected to grow at an annual rate of 35-40% in the next three years. The shine of the yellow metal has obviously rubbed off on India.

And, even if China was the strongest market for investment demand growth in 2009, the total demand for gold as an investment option in India rose by 60%, at 217.4 tonnes over 136.1 tonnes.

Allured, everyone from organised players to retail companies to mutual fund companies wants to benefit from the metal that appears especially attractive in an otherwise gloomy market.

Take retail chains. Inspired by stocks of jewellery companies outperforming the BSE Sensex, south India-based jewellery chain Joyalukkas plans to raise R650 crore in an IPO by end-June.

According to Angel Broking, between April 30, 2010 and April 29, 2011, while the BSE Sensex rose 10.5%, Titan shot up 90%, Gitanjali 134%, Shree Ganesh Jewellery House 55% and Thangamayil Jewellery 91%.

Says Reena Walia, research analyst, base metals, Angel Broking: ?The organised gold loan market in India stands at R350-400 billion and has grown at a CAGR of 40% during 2002-2010 and is expected to grow at an annual rate of 35-40% over the next three years.?

World Gold Council India, buoyed by the success of its gold-related schemes, is in talks with micro-finance agencies and NBFCs.

Says Keyur Shah, head of investments, World Gold Council: ?We are in the final stages of talks with three big players from north, east and south India. These should be sealed in the next 90 days.?

The scheme?s clients can walk into a service provider?s office, book gold at current prices, make a down payment of 10-15% and pay the rest in installments as low as R16 a day.

Gold mutual funds are in vogue too. Some funds launched since January this year include Birla Sun Life Asset Management?s gold-backed fund, Quantum Mutual Fund?s Gold Savings Fund, Reliance Mutual Fund?s Gold Savings Fund and Kotak Mahindra?s Kotak Gold Fund.

Most of these funds enable investments in gold without a demat account. Sebi has also received offer documents from Axis Mutual Fund (Axis Gold Fund) HDFC Mutual Fund (HDFC Gold Fund) and Religare Mutual Fund (Religare Gold Fund).

By June-end, Muthoot Capital Services will provide loans against ETFs with an option to lend 75-80% of the total value of the ETF.

Says Vicky Mehta, senior research analyst, Morningstar India: ?A typical gold ETF has gained roughly 28% across one year, which is quite impressive. During the same period, the Sensex rose 9% while a typical large-cap fund grew 6%. Over a three-year period, the gold ETF segment has posted an annualised gain of roughly 23% (vis-?-vis an annualised growth of 3.4% for the BSE Sensex and an annualised return of 5% for the Morningstar India Large Cap category), which is noteworthy.?

He adds that over the past 12 months, the gold ETF segment has seen huge net inflows (roughly R2,250 crore from April 2010 to March 2011); the AUM under gold ETFs rose from R1,711 crore in April 2010 to R4,400 crore in March 20011.

Suresh Sadagopan, principal financial planner, Ladder7 Financial Advisories, sums up the gold story: ?Gold has performed very well in the last 10 years. It has given over 16% CAGR. It has always been a segment where people have invested in traditionally, and now with the insecurity in financial markets and dollar debasement, gold will continue to be lapped up.?