Bangalore:
With the price of gold as high as it is, it is not surprising that jewellery shops are not seeing as many customers as usual. In fact, at a jewellery shop we visited in Bangalore, we heard phone calls from people asking if they could sell their gold.
The first people who walked in were looking for gold coins - now those are in limited supply with the government trying to restrict this kind of purchase.
C Vinod Hayagriv, MD of C Krishnaiah Chetty & Sons said, "We as an industry body are voluntarily taking this step that no coins and bullion is going to be available across the country in just a week or so. So that is one way of reducing about 200 tonnes of gold imports."
But there were still a few customers wanting to buy the metal that has cast a spell on humanity for centuries.
In one very upmarket store, customers say that the price of gold is not and will not be a deterrent.
We met Shamana Omer Rahman, who was trying out some necklaces.
She said, "I don't think (price) should be a reason for us to stop buying jewellery. I would still come and buy my jewellery. It would probably hit the poorer and the lower strata of society - those who have to buy jewellery because their girls are getting married and they have to give a certain quota... We will still carry on buying the jewellery because it is an investment."
Rajesh Mehta, Chairman of Rajesh Exporta also believes that overall sales will not fall. He told NDTV, "Overall purchase of gold has never been affected in the last hundred years in India. It can never be affected. Nobody can stop gold purchase in India. So they will come back with a vengeance very shortly."
Those selling gold are upset with current government policies.
Mr Mehta said, "There is no clarity on the import policy - the jewellers are not able to get gold at all. RBI has come out with a circular and based on this, nobody is able to import."
"Why are we singled out? 50 per cent of Indian imports are gold and oil. The other 50 per cent is TVs, apples, bananas, biscuits, chocolates - why are those people not targeted? Those are unnecessary imports," he added.
C Vinod Hayagriv said the jewellery industry is not getting the gold it needs to meet the demand. "It was getting until about two months ago, until the government changed the policy to an 80-20 format where they said 80 per cent of the gold must go to domestic provided that there is a 20 per cent export. It was linked up like that, but that is not going to be easy. The timeline for export production and domestic production are two different things. There would be a shortage, a great shortage. Now when this shortage hits us in the next month or two - Diwali would be a very difficult task," he said, adding "I am very positive that somewhere in the world, people are getting together, to find out how they can smuggle gold through the porous borders of India."
The first people who walked in were looking for gold coins - now those are in limited supply with the government trying to restrict this kind of purchase.
C Vinod Hayagriv, MD of C Krishnaiah Chetty & Sons said, "We as an industry body are voluntarily taking this step that no coins and bullion is going to be available across the country in just a week or so. So that is one way of reducing about 200 tonnes of gold imports."
But there were still a few customers wanting to buy the metal that has cast a spell on humanity for centuries.
In one very upmarket store, customers say that the price of gold is not and will not be a deterrent.
We met Shamana Omer Rahman, who was trying out some necklaces.
She said, "I don't think (price) should be a reason for us to stop buying jewellery. I would still come and buy my jewellery. It would probably hit the poorer and the lower strata of society - those who have to buy jewellery because their girls are getting married and they have to give a certain quota... We will still carry on buying the jewellery because it is an investment."
Rajesh Mehta, Chairman of Rajesh Exporta also believes that overall sales will not fall. He told NDTV, "Overall purchase of gold has never been affected in the last hundred years in India. It can never be affected. Nobody can stop gold purchase in India. So they will come back with a vengeance very shortly."
Those selling gold are upset with current government policies.
Mr Mehta said, "There is no clarity on the import policy - the jewellers are not able to get gold at all. RBI has come out with a circular and based on this, nobody is able to import."
"Why are we singled out? 50 per cent of Indian imports are gold and oil. The other 50 per cent is TVs, apples, bananas, biscuits, chocolates - why are those people not targeted? Those are unnecessary imports," he added.
C Vinod Hayagriv said the jewellery industry is not getting the gold it needs to meet the demand. "It was getting until about two months ago, until the government changed the policy to an 80-20 format where they said 80 per cent of the gold must go to domestic provided that there is a 20 per cent export. It was linked up like that, but that is not going to be easy. The timeline for export production and domestic production are two different things. There would be a shortage, a great shortage. Now when this shortage hits us in the next month or two - Diwali would be a very difficult task," he said, adding "I am very positive that somewhere in the world, people are getting together, to find out how they can smuggle gold through the porous borders of India."
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