Chennai, May 4 (PTI) Tamil Nadu has witnessed a 30 per cent jump on the sales of jewellery during the Akshaya Tritiya festival as a whopping 18 tonne amount of gold was retailed on that day, backed by strong demand for the precious metal in the state, industry sources said on Wednesday.
The trend was expected to continue in the coming months considering that the yellow metal has always been a preferred investment in Tamil Nadu, an official of Madras Jewellers and Diamond Merchants Association said.
“This year sales have been 18 tonne (on Akshaya Tritiya day) which is 30 per cent higher compared to 2019 figures which saw sales of about 11-12 tonnes… We have to leave off 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19 as sales were not significant,” Jayanthilal Challani, President of the Association told PTI.
He attributed that the precious metal was always preferred as a safe bet for investment in Tamil Nadu and this has been a trend for a long time.
“In a family, if the husband says he is planning to buy a bike for him, there may not be much support to him. But if he plans to buy jewellery, both husband and wife prefer it as he considers it as financial status (for him) while for women she considers it as a social status…,” he said.
“Another reason for the increase in sales is — people were not able to buy due to COVID-19 enforced lockdown and price of gold was also another factor as gold price was less in May than it prevailed last month,” he said.
Elaborating, he said gold has always been a safe bet for investment among public here whenever there is a crisis like the recent Ukraine-Russia conflict and the crisis in Sri Lanka as these are some of the factors.
“There were reports that people were collecting whatever gold ornaments they had in their respective homes before fleeing to another country. It may be during the recent Ukraine-Russia war or the crisis in Sri Lanka,” he said.
Asked whether this trend would continue in coming days, he replied in the affirmative saying, “Yes, sure. There is no option for gold. Tamil Nadu is very conservative and savings have been a part of people. and gold is always a preferred investment.” PTI VIJ HDA
