Customers rushed to marketplaces despite gold surpassing ₹1.3 lakh per 10 kilos, and gold sales alone reached Rs 60,000 crore, up 25% from the previous year, according to CAIT.
Despite sharp price increases, high demand for gold and silver drove an estimated Rs 1 lakh crore in spending by Indian consumers during Dhanteras this year, a merchants’ group said on Saturday. The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) estimated that bullion sales alone contributed about Rs 60,000 crore to the total festive spending, a 25% increase from the previous year, according to a report by news agency PTI. Despite gold prices rising by nearly 60% year over year to surpass Rs 1.3 lakh per 10 grams, buyers flocked to jewelry markets.
“The jewelry markets have seen an unparalleled surge in the last two days,” said Pankaj Arora, national head of the All India Jewellers and Goldsmith Federation, CAIt is jewellery chapter. He went on to say that sales in Delhi’s bullion markets alone topped Rs 10,000 crore.
Beginning on the thirteenth day of the Hindu month of Kartik, Dhanteras signifies the beginning of the five-day Diwali celebration and is seen as a fortunate time to purchase gold, silver, kitchenware, and other signs of wealth. According to CAIT, demand remained strong because consumers still see precious metals as a safe-haven investment, even though silver prices increased by around 55% to Rs 1.8 lakh per kilogram from Rs 98,000 the previous year.
According to the merchants’ group, the holiday brought in an estimated Rs 15,000 crore from the sale of cookware and utensils, Rs 10,000 crore from electronics and electrical products, and Rs 3,000 crore from the sale of religious and decorative things.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s drive for domestically produced goods and GST rate cuts, according to CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal, a member of Parliament, contributed to the holiday increase. “It is evident that consumers prefer Indian items, which is advantageous for small merchants, artists, and producers,” Khandelwal said.
According to CAIT, traditional markets, neighborhood jewelry bazaars, and retail stores had record foot traffic, which matched the excitement in contemporary shopping centers nationwide.