The rush for gold was palpable among the buyers of the yellow metal in the city on the occasion of Dhanteras with the jewellery stores witnessing a high footfall and also recording spike in sales of gold.
“We have recorded a 50-60 per cent growth in sales of gold on Dhanteras this year as compared to last year and the gold rush is still continuing. Our store has offered a 50 per cent waiver on manufacturing chargs to our gold customers on this year’s Dhanteras”, said Nitesh Khimji, director of the Khimji Jewellers, a leading jewellery outlet in the city. Khimji Jewellers which sells gold worth Rs 12-15 lakh on any given day witnessed its gold sales jumping by five to six times on this year’s Dhanteras.
However, the bullish sentiment was lacking among the gold consumers in Berhampur, the biggest commercial town in south Orissa as the gold prices which had plunged to a seven week low of Rs 11,550 per 10 gm on Friday went up by Rs 500 on the Dhanteras day. “With the rise in gold prices, buyers are not coming forward to purchase the yellow metal but the gold business has gradually picked up during the past two days”, said P Satya Narayan Senapati, president of Berhampur Jewellers’ Association. The gold market in Berhampur is dependent on the bullion markets of Mumbai for procurement of gold biscuits and ornaments and the gold merchants in the town regularly contact their counterparts in Mumbai to fix the rate of gold.