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| Gold glitters on Akshaya Tritiya | | | EARLY TIMES REPORT
Jammu, April 27: Despite the high cost of the yellow metal and the slowdown, people bought gold jewellery in large numbers Monday on Akshaya Tritiya, considered an auspicious day in the Hindu calendar for buying long-term assets like gold, silver and real estate.
Akshaya Tritiya falls on the third day of the bright half of the Hindu month of Baisakh (April-May), when the Sun and Moon are believed to be in exalted positions and are simultaneously at the peak of brightness, which happens only once every year.
"Sales are very good even this year. This is more than we expected," said Sanjeev, a jeweler at the Jain Bazaar, Jammu’s largest jewelery market.
And while jewellers have put on offer various options like jewellery, bars, medallions and coins, customers are opting for jewellery.
"Even with lots of options available, people are mostly buying gold jewellery. We are expecting more volumes by late evening," Sanjeev said.
Saurav Suri of Mela Ram Vijay Kumar, also at Jain Bazaar, said "The number of people buying gold are the same as last year. However, because of the high price, the volume has gone down."
According to Rakesh Kapoor, an expert of gold and gems, the outlook was very positive. "As per the inputs from various shops in the city, sales are very good this year. The value of the total transaction in rupee terms will go up this year as compared to last year, though volumes will go down."
Anjali Sharma, a lecturer who bought a gold chain this year, said it's a tradition that she followed ritually; last year, she had bought one gold bangle.
Like her, Poonam, an entrepreneur, too believes in buying gold jewellery on Akshaya Tritiya. "It is a tradition that I follow every year. And more than that, I could not wait for a better opportunity, and wait endlessly for prices to come down. Who knows whether prices will go up or go down?"
Sales in other parts of country too seem to have been buoyant. "Response has been very good, better than what was anticipated considering the recessionary trends, the high prices of gold this year, the elections and the holiday season," said a market expert.
However, overall, the industry was happy. "Given all factors, people have thronged to buy gold today. I have got similar reports from across the country," said a beaming Ashok Minawala, president of the All India Gems and Jewellery Traders Federation.
Minawala said while it would take a few days to compute the all-India figures, he expected to "come very close to last year's sale" - nine tonnes on a single day.
"At worst, we may fall short of around 10 percent of last year's figures," Minawala said. "Last year, the price of gold was around 12,000 per 10 grams on Akshaya Tritiya; this year it is around 20 percent higher."
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