Despite the harsh sun, crowds thronged jewellery retail outlets on Tuesday to buy gold. After a long lull, the demand for gold peaked, especially in the southern States with consumer buying the yellow metal on the auspicious occasion of Akshaya Trithiya today.

Jewellery retailers in T. Nagar, the country’s biggest jewellery retail hub, say as there was close to 10 per cent drop in gold price compared with that in the same period last year, sales has been pretty good this year. Somasundaram PR, Managing Director, World Gold Council (India), told BusinessLine the initial feedback from the market has been encouraging. Gold sales picked up largely due to stable prices in last few months.

Going by the import trend and positive sentiments in the market, he said, the sales would definitely be higher than last year.

According to Ramesh Kalayanaraman, Executive Director, Kalayan Jewellers, going by the initial trend there will at least be 20-25 per cent growth in sales this year over last year. Kalyan Jewellers recently launched its flagship store in Chennai. “It was a pleasant surprise for us to see the packed shop today. Though we expected good footfall, the reality far exceeded our expectation,” he said. NAC Jewellers, another major retailer in the city, too experienced good consumer turnout today. N Ananthapadmanabhan, Managing Director of the jewellery retail chain, said this year consumers seem to prefer jewellery to gold coins this year. Consumer mood in market is very positive this time around with banks cutting lending rates and the RBI removing all the restrictions on imports. On Tuesday, gold prices were down by ₹70 per 10 grams at ₹26,950 while pure gold was down at ₹27,100 per 10 grams against ₹27,230. Last year on Akshaya Trithiya day, prices were hovering at ₹29,000 per 10 grams.

Surendra Mehta, Secretary, Indian Bullion and Jewellers Association, said the stable prices in the last few months have helped push up sales this year.

“Though there were rains in parts of the northern region it will not have much impact as people would still buy a small quantity of gold on Akshaya Trithiya,” he said.

Rajeev Sheth, CMD, Tara Jewels, said expectations are that jewellery sales volume should increase 15-20 per cent as the company had made special festive offer by reducing making charges by ₹299 per gram. “We have seen higher demand for traditional bangles and necklace sets in gold jewellery and lightweight daily wear diamond jewelleries. The ticket size has definitely increased this year in comparison to the last year,” he said.

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