Gold jewellers brace up for Akshaya Tritiya rush

Hyderabad: Undeterred by sluggishness in gold sales in recent months, jewellers across Telugu states have geared up for spurt in demand for gold jewellery on the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya, which falls on Wednesday and is considered to be an auspicious day for buying gold and other valuable products.  

Jewellery merchants, who have announced a slew of discounts and enticing offers to attract customers, are expecting around 20 per cent upswing in sales on this auspicious occasion. “We are expecting a 15 to 20 per cent rise in sales despite the surge in gold price.

The adverse impacts of the GST implementation tapered off and jewellery trade is back on right track now,” Pavan Mor, owner of city-based Pavan Mor Jewellers, told The Hans India. The jewellery trader who donates one per cent from sales to Smile, an NGO for girl child, says he has over 1,000 orders on hand and will receive more during the festive day.    

Mohak Gupta, the owner of Mangatrai Jewellers, said there were plenty of offers to mark the occasion. “On the auspicious day, we’re offering discounts on wastage and making charges. Since GST, the pace of sales has slowed down but, it hasn’t reduced.

As it’s a festive season, we see increase in sales of our range of kundan, pearls, uncut and diamond jewellery which are available at reasonable prices.”

Not to be left behind, Totaram Papalal and Sons, is also providing 20-30 per cent on making charges and 10-15 per cent discount on cost of ruby, emerald and diamonds. Ashwin Gupta, its partner, notes that the price of gold might increase depending upon the world market trend.

Meanwhile, Twin Cities Jewellers’ Association said that gold market suffered a 50 per cent drop in sales over the past one year due to low dispensable income and liquid cash. “Consumers are not worried about the increase in gold price. But, the 50 per cent drop in gold sales is due to low disposable income, demonetisation and the Rs2 lakh limit on transaction of purchase, beyond which the KYC formalities have to be met,” said Praveen Kumar, secretary, Twin Cities Jewelers’ Association.

He further added that the cash saved by women before demonetisation was utilized towards purchase of gold, which isn’t possible now due to the transaction limit. He however said Akshaya Tritiya would drive the demand.

By: Divya Rao