BENGALURU: In a rare day of good business, both customers and shopkeepers walked away satisfied on Tuesday evening as a strong performance by the rupee drove gold prices down, pushing up sales of the precious metal. In fact, traders are hoping to break all previous records by registering sales of 1,000 tonnes this year.
Akshaya Tritiya, or Akshaya Tadige, which falls on the third day of the Hindu month of Vaishaka, is believed to bring good luck and success. As a result, many purchase gold on this day. Last year, around 600 tonnes of gold jewellery and coins were sold across the state which has more than 1 lakh jewellers, 40 percent of whom are located in Bengaluru.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, TA Saravana, President of the Karnataka Jewellers Association, said that the price of gold had dropped by Rs. 100 to Rs. 150 per gram. “For those who purchase gold in large quantities, this is significant savings. This year, it is not only more people buying gold, more quantities are being purchased as well,” he said.
Also in vogue this year is antique jewellery according to Saravana, who said that jewellery coated with red and black tint polish was in great demand on Tuesday. “These are lightweight designs and it was a big hit. At our store, we have more than 1,000 varieties of jhumkas ranging from 8 grams to 100 grams per pair,” he said.
Another jeweller, Manjunath said that pre-booking by customers also drove the strong sales figures. “Many people pre-booked jewellery with us two to three weeks back and we knew we would have good sales. Last year, we sold roughly 8 kilograms and this year, we sold 12,” he said.
Savitha Dharnesh, who purchased a gold ring, said she ended up buying a pair of earrings, instead of a finger ring that she had previously selected. “It cost me Rs. 19,000 instead of the Rs. 15,000 for the finger ring. Spending a little more means more savings,” she said with a smile.
Another customer, who didn’t want to be named, said, “The gold prices were less in 2017 as well but we couldn’t buy as much due to demonetisation and non-availability of cash. But we still managed to buy a few grams then,” the customer said.