Uday Kotak Hails Indian Housewives As 'Smartest Fund Manager In The World'; Sridhar Vembu Reacts

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Uday Kotak, founder and director of Kotak Mahindra Bank, underscored gold’s enduring strength as an asset

Gold prices in India surged on Tuesday in the spot market, driven by the upcoming Akshaya Tritiya on April 30

Source : X

As gold prices surged to the Rs 1 lakh per 10-gram mark on Wednesday, Uday Kotak took to social media to spotlight the wisdom of Indian housewives. He praised them as “the smartest fund managers in the world” for their long-standing preference for investing in gold over other assets.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Uday Kotak, founder and director of Kotak Mahindra Bank, underscored gold’s enduring strength as an asset. “The performance of gold over time highlights that the Indian housewife is the smartest fund manager in the world. Governments, central banks, economists, who support pump priming, high deficit funding, may need to take a leaf from India, a net importer of store of value forever!” he wrote.

The performance of gold over time highlights that the Indian housewife is the smartest fund manager in the world. Governments, central banks, economists, who support pump priming, high deficit funding, may need to take a leaf from India, a net importer of store of value forever!

— Uday Kotak (@udaykotak) April 22, 2025

Kotak’s comments sparked mixed reactions on social media. While some argued that Indian housewives traditionally accumulated gold due to limited financial autonomy and as a hedge against rupee volatility, others supported his viewpoint. Zoho co-founder and chief scientist Sridhar Vembu also came in support of Kotak’s statement.

"Uday Kotak hails Indian housewife as the smartest fund manager as gold hits ₹1 lakh"

I agree wholeheartedly with Uday Kotak-ji. Indians' love of gold and a corresponding distrust of paper assets is the foundation of our long term stability and civilizational continuity.…

— Sridhar Vembu (@svembu) April 22, 2025

"I agree wholeheartedly with Uday Kotak-ji. Indians' love of gold and a corresponding distrust of paper assets is the foundation of our long term stability and civilizational continuity," he wrote on X. 

Vembu added, "Money is too important to be left to central banks and governments and PhD economists and their fancy theories (or software engineers for that matter and I am looking at you Bitcoin)."

Vembu stressed that as global economic conditions deteriorate, India’s economic resilience will increasingly rely on gold. “Gold IS money. The poorest Indian knows this and that knowledge is power,” he remarked.

Rise In Gold Prices

Meanwhile, Gold prices in India surged on Tuesday in the spot market, driven by the upcoming Akshaya Tritiya on April 30 and a sharp rally in global markets. The price of 24-karat gold rose by Rs 1,650 to reach Rs 99,800 per 10 grams in Delhi. With the addition of Goods and Services Tax (GST) and making charges, the total cost exceeds Rs 1 lakh.

Globally, gold prices hit new record highs as investor demand for the safe-haven asset grew amid rising political tensions in the United States. This increase followed US President Donald Trump's criticism of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, which dampened market sentiment and prompted a shift towards gold.