High prices may take the sheen off gold this Diwali-Dhanteras

Kolkata: India's leading jewellers expect gold demand to drop by 15-20% this Diwali-Dhanteras as compared to last year same period as gold price is nearing Rs 81,000 per 10 g mark, forcing many of them to come up with freebies beyond making charges discount in which is usually the peak shopping period.

Diwali-Dhanteras is the largest gold jewellery shopping period in the country as it is considered auspicious and people even buy wedding jewellery, accounting for about 30-40% of the annual sales.

Yet, jewellers such as Senco Gold & Diamond, Jos Alukkas and Malabar Gold & Diamonds are some who have come up with offers like winning electric cars, SUVs, iPhone16 smartphone, gold coins with every purchase and even a gold rate protection plan to safeguard against price changes to woo consumers.

"The price of gold is constantly heading northwards which is dampening the mood of the customers as the precious metal is pinching the pockets. At this price level, the demand for gold will drop by 15%-20% year-on-year," said Suvankar Sen, managing director and CEO of listed jewellery firm Senco Gold & Diamond.

He added that the chain has come up with a host of offers to lure customers apart from the normal discounts given on making charges.

Gold prices on Friday was at Rs 80,593 per 10 g.

Untimely rains in certain states of the country like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and the impact of Cyclone Dana in West Bengal and Odisha will hurt the rural demand in these states, jewellers said. Gold is an important asset class in rural India, which accounts for 60% of the country's annual gold consumption of 800-850 tonnes.

However, jewellers are still betting on the Hindi heartland for rural demand recovery of gold this Diwali. Saurabh Gadgil, chairman and managing director of the recently listed PNG Jewellers said: "We expect strong demand in tier 2 and tier 3 cities this Dhanteras as overall the kharif crop production has remained robust."

Jos Alukkas, a South-centric jeweller with 50 stores, is also expecting demand in volume to come down by 15% -20%. Managing director Varghese Alukkas said he expects an offtake of diamond jewellery and platinum jewellery this Diwali-Dhanteras period even when South is primarily a gold market.

"Since the gold content is less in diamond jewellery and prices of natural diamonds have fallen, the demand has shot up in the last two weeks," he said.