Mumbai: Akshay Tritiya, Eid, Basava Jayanti and Parashuram Jayanti made for a terrific Tuesday for traders. Across India, the bullion market reported big business, with Rs 15,000 crore in sales, witnessed after two years of the Covid pandemic slump.
Pankaj Arora, national president of the All India Jewellers and Goldsmith Federation, the apex organization of jewellery trade in the country, claimed jewellers and gold shops did roaring business at a time when prices of both precious metals are at an all-time high - Rs 53,000 per 10 grams of gold and Rs 66,600 per kg of silver – from Rs 32,700 and Rs 38,350 in 2019 respectively.
“For two consecutive years, business on Akshaya Tritiya in the lockdown dropped to its nadir, breaking the back of the jewellery business in the country but this year, bullion trade has recovered from corona, with a lot of enthusiasm seen amongst Indians in gold markets across the country,” Arora said.
Akshaya Tritiya is considered a very auspicious day in India and buying gold and silver on this day brings prosperity in home and business, so this is a very big business day for bullion traders. According to Hindu mythology, on this day, Lord Shiva is believed to have blessed Kubera to be the god of treasure and Lakshmi to be the goddess of wealth.
The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) national president, B C Bhartia, informed that in the first quarter of 2021, 39.3 tonnes of gold were imported in the form of gold bars and coins, whereas in the first quarter of 2022, this increased to 41.3 tonnes; however, the import of gold jewellery in the first quarter of 2021 was 126.5 tonnes, which fell to 94.2 tonnes in the first quarter of 2022, reflecting the increasing trend of Indians investing in gold bars and coins.
While in 2019, gold worth Rs 10 thousand crore was sold across the country on Akshaya Tritiya, sales slumped in 2020 because of the pandemic-induced lockdown and a mere Rs 500 crore in gold sales were recorded.
According to astrologer Acharya Durgesh Tare, as per Indian astrology calculations, an auspicious position of five Mahayoga has been created with five planets this year on Akshaya Tritiya. “It is a rare coincidence that happens once in 100 years, and includes ‘Kedar’, ‘Shubh Kartari’, ‘Ubhayachari’, ‘Vimal’ and ‘Sumukh’. Due to the combination of the ‘tithi’ and ‘nakshatra in 24 hours, the whole day of Akshya Tritiya will be auspicious for shopping, investment etc. With ‘Tritiya Tithi’ on Tuesday, Siddhi Yoga is also formed and success in every work done in this ‘yog’ is certain,” explained Tare.
