Strong demand for gold coins in Mumbai brings glitter to Dhanteras mahurat

MUMBAI: Tuesday’s festival of Dhanteras saw the city’s gold and jewellery markets buzz with a return to normalcy. Industry federation CAIT expected gold sales to cross a record Rs 7,500 crore nationwide.
Tuesday’s rate for 22-carat gold was Rs 46,740 per 10 gm and 24 carat Rs 47,740.
In Mumbai, mahurat customers flocked to buy small items of jewellery while wedding buyers chose high value ornaments.After a series of idle festive seasons, jewellers were so busy they declined to speak until close of business hours.
As the day wore on, the sale of gold coins outstripped jewellery in parts of the city, which is unusual given the surfeit of upcoming weddings. Typically, ornaments fare better than bullion during the marriage season. The trend towards coins indicates that Mumbaikars are once again relying on pure gold as an investment.
Festive shopping continued up to 10.30pm given customer preference for the evening mahurat. Nitin Khandelwal, past president of the All India Gem and Jewellery Council (GJC), said, “Traders nationwide are very pleased. We had kept our expectations low since the pandemic is still not fully behind us, but the robust demand has surprised us. In fact our store ran out of gold coins in the evening and we quickly sourced more stock.” Khandelwal said the auspicious mahurat of Guru Pushya yog, which fell last Thursday, also saw brisk buying sentiment. “It took 25% of the load off Dhanteras,” he said.
Ashok Gajera, director of Laxmi Diamonds, wholesale diamantaire at Bharat Diamond Bourse, said Diwali had seen a good start. “Jewellery has been a solid stable investment. Our sales are 40% higher this season.” Zaveri Bazar goldsmith Kanaya Kakad said, “People were buying coins ranging from 2-10 gm. There were large queues in Zaveri Bazar.”
Exuberance brimmed over in the tone of goldsmith Sanjay Kothari of Palak Jewellers, Borivli. He said, “After such a prolonged period, trade is finally looking up.” Similar feelings were echoed by Mehul Suru, manager of Om Alankar Jewellers nearby, who said “the ratio of coins to ornaments was 70:30”. In Andheri Lokhandwala, KAJ Jewellers also reported that coins fared better in the same proportion.