Jewellers expect good business on Dhanteras

Vijay C Roy

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 24

Notwithstanding high prices, gold is unlikely to lose its sheen this Dhanteras which falls tomorrow. Having witnessed improved sales since Navratras, followed by ‘Karva Chauth’, jewellers in the region are hopeful that Dhanteras will bring good business, with customers looking to buy jewellery for investment purpose and following the ritual of purchasing yellow metal on this auspicious day.

Dhanteras is considered an auspicious day for buying gold, silver and other valuables and is largely celebrated in the northern and western parts of India.

The sharp rise in the price of yellow metal has weakened its demand in the domestic market in the current fiscal. Gold prices were at Rs 38,400 per 10 grams (24 carat) in Chandigarh on Thursday. Jewellers are of the view that customers will be undeterred by high prices on Dhanteras.

“Gold prices saw sharp rise in July and August and it did have an impact on buying sentiment. However, the trend has steadied now, and we are hopeful that Dhanteras and Diwali will be favourable,” said TS Kalyanaraman, chairman and managing director, Kalyan Jewellers.

To push the sales, almost all jewellers in the organised space are offering discount on labour charges and have launched other attractive schemes. Credit card companies are also offering attractive discounts and cashback offers for their customers.

There are around 3.85 lakh to 4.10 lakh jewellers in India, according to World Gold Council estimates. Out of this, roughly 35% are based in northern states and contribute 15% to the total gold demand.

“This is beyond doubt that overall market has been hit but the impact is more in the unorganised sector. Overall, the organised sector is growing and eating the share of the non-organised players. We hope that players in the organised sector will witness good sales during Dhanteras,” said Anil Talwar, founder, All India Gems and Jewellery Trade Federation.

Echoing similar sentiments, Pankaj Arora, national chairman, Jewellery Division, Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), said, “There has been spike in sales in the past few weeks. Going by the current sentiments, we hope the high price will not act as a deterrent to gold buyers on Dhanteras.”

Jewellers in Amritsar pointed out that declining deposit rates and recent scam in Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank have also led to people preferring gold over bank deposits.

“The bank deposit rates have gone down and people have apprehensions that their money is not safe in banks and hence prefer to buy physical gold,” said Aswani Kumar Namesha, a jeweller from Amritsar.