India’s second-biggest money manager is making a bid to become its first gold exchange-traded fund provider. UTI Mutual Fund is teaming up with Mumbai-based Benchmark Asset Management in seeking regulatory approval for the vehicle, which Benchmark executive director Sanjiv Shah expects could attract 2 billion rupees (US$43.4 million) from investors.

Indians are among the biggest buyers of gold – which traditionally is part of a bridal dowry – in the world, consuming more than buyers in the U.S. and China combined, Bloomberg News reports. Some US$200 billion is sitting in family vaults. Still, some are skeptical that retail demand is a sure sign of investment demand. Investment-driven demand is “independent of the physical demand that is typical for jewelry,” S. Venkataraghavan, v.p. for research at India’s Altos Advisory Services, told Bloomberg.

Gold ETFs are currently traded in Australia, South Africa, Switzerland, the U.S., the U.K., and on the pan-European exchange Euronext.