Dazzling start: Rs 30,000 crore gold and silver transactions on Dhanteras

CAIT National President BC Bhartia and Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal highlighted that Dhanteras witnessed numerous purchases, including idols of deities Shri Ganesh, Shri Lakshmi and Shri Kuber; vehicles, gold and silver ornaments, as well as items like utensils, kitchen appliances, and electronics, and brooms which are considered auspicious to buy on this day. Besides, the purchase of earthen lamps, home and office decoration items, furnishing fabric and Diwali puja materials are also bought on the day of Dhanteras.

Gold and Silver sale transactions

Pankaj Arora, the National President of All India Jewelers and Goldsmiths Federation, said there was a turnover of Rs 30,000 crore for gold, silver and other items across the country. The trade included gold goods worth approximately Rs 27,000 crore and silver transactions of Rs 3,000 crore.

Last year, this business on Dhanteras was approximately Rs 25,000 crore. The price of gold was Rs 52,000 per 10 gm whereas on November 10 it was Rs 62,000 per 10 gm. On the other hand, silver was sold for Rs 58,000 per kg last Diwali and now it is priced at Rs 72,000 per kg.

Approximately, 41 tonnes of gold and 400 tonnes of silver jewellery and coins were estimated to have been sold on Dhanteras so far.

Across India, there are around four lakh small and large jewellers with 1,85,000 registered under the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). An additional 2,25,000 small jewellers operate in areas where the BIS standards are yet to be implemented. The country annually imports around 800 tonnes of gold and 4,000 tonnes of silver from abroad.