1 NEW DELHI - The Jariwal household could barely contain its joy on a recent weekday afternoon as family members prepared for their oldest daughter's wedding: The invitations had been delivered, a venue chosen, hotel reservations made.
2 But there was the gold problem. Gold is far more than just a nice thing to wear at Indian weddings.
3 It's a key element of the religion and culture in a country that consumes 20 percent of global production of the metal.
4 In India it is status symbol, sign of respect, inflation hedge, repository of emergency savings and, of course, something to make the bride shine.
5 But the nation's swooning economy, marked by a sharp drop in its currency in recent weeks, has pushed gold prices sharply higher, pain that's been compounded by a government decision to increase import duties on precious metals to 10 percent from 4 percent.
6 That's left people like Kusum Jariwal, 47, a teacher and proud mother of the bride, grappling with some intricate social engineering as the December wedding date looms.
7 For one thing, there'll be a single 'not too weighty' gold necklace-and-earrings set for daughter Kanika, 25, rather than the two that Jariwal had planned.
8 It also means a pendant rather than a chain for the mother-in-law-to-be.
9 Plus a ring and watch for the groom - can't really skimp there - from a well-known jeweler because his family is a bit brand-conscious.
10 'We have to buy more, but prices are crazy,' Jariwal said.
11 'We'll just have to make do with less'.
12 The government's decision to increase the tax on gold just before the November-February wedding season indicates how worried Indian economic planners have become as fiscal deficits have soared, the trade deficit has hit 4.6 percent and stocks have headed for the basement, knocking nearly $100 billion off the market's value in August.
13 Adding to the bad-news drumbeat, foreign reserves have fallen to $280 billion, or the equivalent of seven months worth of imports, and economic growth has plunged to 4.4 percent, less than half its 2010-11 level.
14 Meanwhile, the rupee's 16 percent decline against the dollar this year has made it among Asia's worst-performing currencies, forcing Indians to pay more for gasoline, imported medicines, foreign trips and education.
15 'India has become the sick man of Asia,' said Rajiv Biswas, Asia-Pacific chief economist with IHS, a market information firm.
16 'Global investors have gradually realized in 2012 and 2013 that the Indian government is ‘wearing no clothes' in the area of economic policy reforms'.
17 Oil is India's largest import, and significantly increasing taxes on it could choke growth.
18 So the government has aggressively targeted gold, the nation's second-largest import, in a bid to shore up foreign reserves, restore confidence and prevent further economic deterioration before next year's general election.
19 It's also allowing public-sector companies and banks to raise funds overseas and is boosting import duties on other 'nonessential' imports, including a 35 percent tax on flat-screen TVs brought in by airline passengers.
20 At New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport, Naeem Ahmad, 32, emerged from the arrival hall last month with two bags, a 40-inch Samsung flat-screen TV and a big grin after barely avoiding the hefty tax that would be imposed a few days later.
21 Still, he said, the higher fuel prices are hurting his family, and they have put off buying clothes and going on vacation.
22 'Our government doesn't care,' he said, returning from a several-month stint working in a shop in Saudi Arabia.
23 'They're fleecing us. This import duty is just another example'.
24 India is hardly the only developing country whose economy is struggling as higher U.S. bond prices and signs of an American economic recovery encourage investors to flee riskier markets.
25 But critics say Indian policymakers could have stepped in earlier to shore things up instead of waiting for a crisis.
26 'The government's taken steps, like stopping TVs, that the market reads as panic,' said Arun Kumar, an economics professor with New Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University.
27 'Things are looking more and more precarious.
28 It's too little too late'. The steps India needs to take are evident, the critics said, but they are politically difficult.
29 They include cutting subsidies and other populist welfare policies that drive up government deficits; reducing red tape, opaque regulations and inconsistent tax policies that deter investors; intervening in currency markets earlier; and addressing a string of corruption scandals in the defense, real estate, telecommunications, mining and sports sectors.
30 'Bureaucrats and politicians are in paralysis and don't want to make decisions because all around them is some sort of scam,' Kumar said.
31 'The country's still too dependent on crony capitalism rather than market investment'.
32 India, which cut diesel subsidies last year and has eased restrictions on foreign retailers, isn't the first country to delay tough reforms.
33 Some analysts hope its growing economic problems will spur change in the way its near-insolvency helped pry open the economy in 1991.
34 But it's unclear whether the government can chip away at Indians' love of gold, which economists consider a 'nonproductive asset' that sits idle in safe-deposit boxes rather than fueling growth.
35 Previous attempts to severely restrict or license its import have failed.
36 Biswas predicts that the latest gold tax will only encourage smuggling and provide an opportunity for organized crime.
37 Last month, two Sri Lankans were reportedly caught in western India's Goa state with several pounds of gold, valued at more than $10 million, in their body cavities.
38 Customs officials had noticed them walking awkwardly.
39 In May, a jeweler died in a tunnel collapse after a witch doctor convinced him there was a mass of gold under his house.
40 It's tough to change a culture that believes gold should mark every phase of life, from birth to dowry to childbirth to death, said Partha Nath Mukherji, professor emeritus of sociology at New Delhi's Institute of Social Sciences.
41 It's evidenced in a love of glitter, be it solid-gold furniture, cricket bats, idols, temple doors or chain-mail shirts worth millions of dollars.
42 Gold is enshrined in ancient Hindu legends as well as the latest marketing campaigns, such as those for 24K-gold-plated iPhones.
43 When Tata Motors wanted to draw attention to its Nano car model in 2011, it coated one of the vehicles with 176 pounds of gold and gems, gaining far more in publicity than the $3 million value of the shiny stunt.
44 In the Jariwals' small living room, decorated with brown wicker furniture, orange pillows and artificial flowers, three generations of women proudly displayed their gold earrings and necklaces in worn jewelry boxes.
45 Bride Kanika, a bank executive who admits being a 'riot of emotions' right now, said she suggested the family stop obsessing about the gold, given all the added expense and stress.
46 But her mother wouldn't hear of it.
47 On one point everyone in the family agrees: Indians will never stop buying the stuff.
48 'Two years ago, gold prices were way down,' the mother said with a sigh.
49 'Oh, how I wish I'd bought more. Why didn't I just go for it?'

It ' s a key element of the religion and culture in a country that consumes 20 percent of global production of the metal .
religion
Why is gold a key element of the Indian religion?