Sale of gold and silver worth Rs 50,000 crore on Dhanteras

With Dhanteras, the five-day festival of Deep Mahotsav started with great enthusiasm across the country.

Roop chaturdashi will be celebrated today, Diwali on 12th November, Govardhan Puja and Annakoot on 13th November and Bhaiya Dooj on 15th November.

According to traders' organization CAT, trade worth more than Rs 50,000 crore was reported from across the country on the occasion of Dhanteras.

Meanwhile, All India Jewelers and Goldsmiths Federation said that on the day of Dhanteras, gold and silver worth Rs 30,000 crore were sold across the country.

A statement from the Federation said that gold sales were around Rs 27,000 crore and silver sales were around Rs 3,000 crore.

This year’s sale of the two precious metals was more than the last year.

Last year, gold and silver worth Rs 25,000 crore were sold on Dhanteras. Last Dhanteras, the price of gold was Rs 52,000, which is Rs 62,000 this year. Last Diwali, silver was Rs 58,000 and this year it is Rs 72,000 per kg.

According to CAT, about 41 tonnes of gold and about 400 tonnes of silver jewelery and coins were sold in the country on Dhanteras. Buying gold and silver jewellery, utensils, kitchen appliances, electronics items and brooms is also considered auspicious on the day of Dhanteras. There are about 4 lakh small and big jewelers in the country.

Incidentally India is the second largest importer of gold in the world. The government had a few months back imposed restrictions on imports on plain gold jewellery, in an apparent bid to plug loopholes in its trade policy.

Import of articles of gold have been put under the restriction category from the free category, a government notification said, adding that import under the India-United Arab Emirates Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement would be allowed without any license.