Banks record good demand for gold on Akshaya Tritiya

CHENNAI: Despite soaring prices, people flocked to banks to buy gold and silver on Friday. Some banks witnessed an almost 50% increase in the sales of gold coins and bars. Some banks extended their working hours to accommodate the gold rush, while others sold out their stock of gold by noon.
"This year, the sales for Akshaya Tritiya has been unprecedented. Gold sales in our bank has almost doubled compared to last year," said Renu Mohan Rao of Indian Overseas Bank.
About 75% of the gold sold in the country is in the form of jewellery and only 23% is purchased in the form of coins and bars for investment purposes. This year, Indian Bank sold 254kg of gold between May 2 and May 6, compared to 153kg last year in the same period. On Friday alone, the bank sold around 120kg of gold.
HDFC bank, which is the only bank selling silver, witnessed good demand for silver bars. "We started selling silver bars last year and the response has been good. Last year, we sold silver bars in 40 branches. This year, we are selling it in 700 branches nationally," said Surinder Chawala, head, retail liabilities product, HDFC, said. The bank registered a 15% increase in the sale of gold this year.
Most banks sold gold coins and bars in the denomination of 2g, 4g, 8g, 20g, 50g and 100g but the most sales were for lower grammage coins below 8g. Buying gold from banks has some disadvantages as banks charge more for coins and bars. Chennai jewellers were charging Rs 4,068 for a 2g gold coin, while banks where selling it for Rs 4,800.
"Ours is imported gold which comes with a certificate of purity. Our gold is 99.99% pure compared to the 22 carat gold available in the market," said R Mahadevan, GM, Indian Bank.