BHUBANESWAR: Twin City's gold market seems to have started recovering from the pandemic blow if the Dhanteras sales are any indication. A majority of jewellery outlets in both Bhubaneswar and Cuttack saw brisk business of gold, silver and diamond jewellery on Tuesday to mark Dhanteras which is considered auspicious to buy precious items.
While 22 carat gold of 916 hallmark certification sold at Rs 46,350 per 10 grams today, the price of 24 carat was Rs 49,500 per 10 grams. Last year, the price of the yellow metal was hovering over Rs 50,000 per 10 grams.
The Twin City has over 200 jewellery stores. Bigger outlets like Khimji, Lalchand, Malabar and Tanishq, among others, saw 25 to 30 per cent rise in sales on the day. However, the purchases were limited to smaller and lighter gold items. Besides, gold coins of different weights sold the most.
Vice-president of Odisha Jewellers Association Sourav Roy said that with the purchasing power of people coming down owing to the pandemic, not many people are preferring to buy heavy pieces of jewellery. "Compared to pre-COVID period when people used to invest in heavy jewellery, they are now buying smaller pieces for the sake of the Dhanteras ritual," he said.
With Tuesday being a working day, most outlets saw less crowd in the morning which went up during the evening. Stating that gold sales had fallen by 60 per cent since the outbreak of COVID-19, Roy said compared to last year, there has been a 30 per cent rise in sales this time.
And a majority of the sales comprised rings, gold coins and earrings, he said. Owner of Khimji Jewellers Mitesh Khimji said the gold market is almost back to 80 pc to 90 pc of the pre-pandemic level. "The response this year compared to last Dhanteras has been better. We were actually expecting a growth of 11-12 per cent but it crossed nearly 25 per cent this time," he said.
Similarly at Malabar Gold & Diamonds, which set up its Bhubaneswar store in March this year, sales were at par with its stores across other states. "If we were to go by Dhanteras sales, our Bhubaneswar store figured in the top-10 Malabar stores across the country. In fact, it jumped four-fold compared to the normal days," said marketing manager Sidheswar Rath. Jewellers hoped that the sales would continue till the wedding season that begins in December.