Ashok Sonthalia, CFO, Titan, in a exclusive conversation with Business Today on Tuesday spoke at length on PM Narendra Modi's appeal to citizens about postponing gold purchases for a year to help conserve foreign exchange amid the West Asia crisis.

"This has come just less than 48 hours ago and we are also assessing the impact of this which side it will be - you know on the procurement side or the supply side of it. To me it appears that government concern more is about import of gold and if that is the case things can be solved not only short-term but slightly mid to long-term because India has lot of gold above ground gold with its citizens and in temples and in lockers...there can be rotation of that gold and we can actually reduce import of gold substantially," Ashok Sonthalia, CFO, Titan, said.

'Titan and Tanishq exchange program...'

"Titan and Tanishq have been doing exchange program in a very meaningful manner and I think that could be one major solutions not only for coping up with the next 3-6 months but even going forward," he added.

'One has to wait..'

When asked if Titan is trying to approach the government to put its view forward as gems and jewelry sector employs lakhs of people, Sonthlia said, "One has to wait also a little bit for a couple of weeks to see what kind of impact happens - two kinds of - one how the consumers respond to this call, the other one is the what kind of policy announcement actually government brings to kind of make it in intention clear both we will be kind of looking very carefully in the next 7-10 days."

'Which is very very unhealthy...' 

"In the meantime, we are part of jewelry industry and jewelry associations so any meeting at any forum we will certainly be part of and our hope and trust is that government will take a holistic view because some of these measures will not impact industry but as well as give rise to parallel markets in India which is very very unhealthy and I'm sure government is mindful of that," Sonthalia said.

WATCH FULL CONVERSATION here:-

What PM Modi said: 7 appeals to citizens of India 

The Prime Minister, on May 10, 2026, exhorted the people to reduce petrol and diesel consumption by using metros & public transport, opting to car pooling; help conserve foreign exchange reserves by refraining from unnecessary foreign travel, choosing domestic tourism & celebrations within India, and avoiding non-essential gold purchases for a year. 

He had urged the farmers to reduce chemical fertiliser usage by 50 per cent, move towards natural farming practices, help protect soil health & reduce import dependence, and encourage wider adoption of solar-powered irrigation pumps instead of diesel pumps in agriculture.