Silver delivers higher returns than Gold over the period. They hold significant value in economic terms, spiritual terms, and hedging against currencies. This has ensured people invested in and owned this commodity over centuries apart from Gold. The government is planning to make hallmark on silver jewelry mandatory to ensure better quality and to improve customer trust.
Gold & Silver commodity returns
Over the years, Gold has been the hedge for the currency during uncertain times like political or economic downturns. This has made the Gold more valuable and is in limited quantity. This ensures a decent return for a Gold Investor. In the past one-year period, the Gold has delivered around 26.75 percent returns and was trading at 78,491 for 10 grams as of January 10th, 2025. Silver has delivered returns of around 29.16 percent in the past year thus outperforming Gold. The silver was trading at Rs. 92,046 per Kilogram on 10th January 2025. Even though Silver is a kind of alloy as it is a byproduct of mining of copper, zinc, and lead, and with limited source it still holds a good economic value.
Government plans for mandatory Silver Jewelry Hallmark
As per the sources, the government plans to work on a scheme for mandatory hallmarks for The government plans to introduce a scheme to mandate hallmarking for silver jewellery, which is currently voluntary. Pralhad Joshi, the Minister for New and Renewable Energy, Food and Public Distribution, and Consumer Affairs, stated that there is significant demand from various stakeholders to make silver hallmarking compulsory.
The Minister highlighted that mandatory gold hallmarking had successfully minimized customer losses and it aligns with Prime Minister Modi’s goal of preventing financial losses for all sections of society.
From the various sources, the government mentioned considering a scheme for mandatory silver hallmarking. There has been a problem in the implementation is the durability of Hallmark Unique Identification (HUID) on silver jewellery. As compared to gold, where the HUIDs remain durable on the surface, the silver on which HUID is stamped may corrode due to atmospheric reactions and can lead to a loss of its distinct mark over the period. So, the government is looking for solutions to make sure the HUID visible remains on the silver jewellery for a long period.
What is Hallmark Unique Identification (HUID)?
HUID is a unique six-digit alphanumeric code given to each piece of jewellery during hallmarking. It aims to improve the jewelry’s credibility with customers.
Mandatory Hallmark for Gold Bullion in cards?
From April 1, 2023, the HUID was mandatory for gold jewelry which is sold in India. In December 2024, Consumer Affairs Secretary Nidhi Khare told sources that the government was also looking to make hallmark mandatory for gold bullion to ensure quality assurance and broader acceptance across India. Nidhi Khare focused attention on Indian women
needing the assurance of a quality mark while purchasing jewelry to avoid feeling cheated and noted that the six-digit HUID number has significantly boosted customer’s confidence.
Conclusion
If the government makes hallmarking mandatory for silver jewellery, it could increase consumer trust and demand and might drive silver prices in an upward trajectory, possibly pushing them past Rs. 1,00,000. However, other market factors and global trends are to be assessed by the people by their research before investing.
Written by Santhosh S
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