Dhanteras brings some cheer to jewellers in Gujarat

Jewellery shops across Gujarat witnessed heavy gold and silver buying on the occasion of Dhanteras on Friday.

Sources in the jewellery markets in the state said customers flocked to jewellery shops since Friday morning. Huge sales of gold and silver bars were recorded in bigger cities like Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot.

“During the lockdown, most jewellery shops in the state wore a deserted look. Even after the lockdown was eased, most shops weren’t able to do adequate business due to overall slowdown and increasing rate of gold,” said Jigar Soni, president of the Ahmedabad Jewellers Association.

Diwali festivities have pumped in much needed oxygen into the jewellery industry, he said. Nearly 500 kg gold was sold till the evening on Dhanteras, Soni said.

Gold buying would continue till late in the night, and the figure may touch 550 kg, and around 3,000 kg for silver, he said. Value wise, jewellers are expecting to sell gold worth `350 crore and silver worth `25 to `30 crore on the day, he said. Nearly 50% of the total gold and silver purchases were in Ahmedabad, Soni said.

Shantibhai Patel, president of the Gems and Jewellery Trade Council of India (GJTCI), said buying was nearly 40-45% down this year compared to last Dhanteras. A key reason for this is the high prices of gold and silver this year, he said.

Despite the dip in sales, jewellers are happy to see a rise in demand after being affected by the pandemic.

Last Sunday, marked as Pushya Nakshatra, jewellers in the state sold nearly 530 kg of gold and 10,700 kg of silver. Most jewellers will now close their shops till Labh Pancham, when again people in Gujarat tend to buy gold.