Synopsis
“According to an estimate, due to the lock down and coronavirus restrictions, the gold and jewelry trade recorded a loss of about Rs 10,000 crores. Last year too, due to the lock down, jewellery traders were not able to do any significant business on Akshaya Tritiya,” a CAIT release said.
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There are about 4 lakh gold and jewellery traders in the Country.
For two consecutive years, on the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya, the business of gold and gold jewellery trade saw big losses, claimed trade body Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT).
“According to an estimate, due to the lock down and coronavirus restrictions, the gold and jewelry trade recorded a loss of about Rs 10,000 crores. Last year too, due to the lock down, jewellery traders were not able to do any significant business on Akshaya Tritiya,” a CAIT release said.
NEW DELHI: Given the rising graph of
coronavirus cases in many states, gold jewellers are staring at another year of subdued activity this Akshaya Tritiya.
The fledgling recovery in gold demand in the first three months of the year may be snuffed out with the renewed surge in Covid-19 infections and the consequent localised lockdown imposed in at least 22 states even as the demand-supply dynamics this year are very different unlike the last year when India announced a nationwide lockdown.
Data from the World Gold Council (WGC) showed that demand for the yellow metal in the January-March quarter saw a growth of 37 per cent year-on-year at 140 tonne due to ease of restrictions, pent-up demand and softening of prices. Net bullion imports during the period saw a 262 per cent increase to 301 tonne.