ON AKSHYA TRITIYA & EID GOLD & JEWELLERY TRADE SUFFERED A LOSS
By SHRI RAM SHAW
New Delhi, 14 May: Today, on the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya in the country for two consecutive years, the business of gold and gold jewelry trade saw an eclipse like situation due to lockdown in majority of States in the Country. According to an estimate, due to the lock down and coronavirus restrictions, the gold & jewelry trade recorded a loss of about Rs. 10 thousand crores the Country. Last year too, due to the lock down, jewelry traders were not able to do any significant business on Akshaya Tritiya. There are about 4 lakh gold and jewelry traders in the Country.
B.C. Bhartia, National President and Praveen Khandelwal, Secretary General of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) said that both Eid festival and Akshaya Tritiya falling same day today, the gold traders and jewelers also lost additional business which normally happens on Eid as well. They said that in most of the states of the country, there is a lock-down and in other states due to the restrictions of Corona and the states where the markets were open, there was very minimal footfall of the consumers due to having fear of Corona which has greatly disappointed the gold and jewelry traders all over India.
According to mythological Hindu beliefs, Akshaya Tritiya is considered to be extremely auspicious for performing every auspicious tasks. According to the scriptures, Goddess Lakshmi is worshiped on this day. On this day, the practice of buying gold items for the attainment of auspicious results has been in place for centuries. Large number of weddings also takes place on Akshya Tritiya which also contribute significantly the sale of goods .
Pankaj Arora, National Convener of All India Jewelers and Goldsmith Federation (AIJJF), the apex organization of the country’s jewelry trade said that in most parts of the country, the shops and markets of gold and jewelry traders remains completely closed due to the lock down which has caused a business loss of about Rs.10 thousand crores all over the Country. Arora has said that Akshaya Tritiya is considered the second highest gold buying day in the country after Dhanteras. But due to Corona, for the second year in a row, the purchase of gold on Akshaya Tritiya was almost negligible.
Arora said that in 2019 on the day of Akshya Tritiya, there was a business of gold and jewelry trade for about 10 thousand crores on Akshaya Tritiya having the rate of Rs.35 thousand per 10 gram of the gold but in 2020, on the day of Akshaya Tritiya there was complete lockdown in the Country and trade of about Rs. 980 crore of gold trade took place in the country when the price of gold was about 52 thousand rupees per 10 grams. Today, when the price of gold in the country is about 49 thousand rupees per 10 grams, it is estimated that trade of about 20 Metric tons of Gold could not happen with a value of about Rs.10 thousand crores.
