Due to less supply and rising demand from American and Asian markets on the back of economic recovery, the prices of rough diamonds ('roughs') have risen 50 per cent since July.
Jewellery retailers witnessed a 20 per cent increase in the sale of ornaments during the last fortnight. The rise was due to more consumer footfalls following a 1.6 per cent correction in prices.
Financial Technologies-promoted National Spot Exchange (NSEL) plans to introduce an e-gold conversion facility. This will allow buyers to purchase physical gold in the electronic format, store it in a demat account and convert it into jewellery as and when they wish.
The evolution of Bt created additional value worth Rs 40,000 crore until 2008.
Gold imports in India are estimated to have declined by 50 per cent to 30 tonnes during June-July.
High prices, individual investors and funds retaining their faith in gold as an alternate investment option also helped in improving the import figures.
Diamond prices fell about 30 per cent last year and had recovered by almost 15 per cent this year. Further recovery is imminent by the end of this year, said Mehul Choksi, chairman of Gitanjali Gems, a leading jewellery manufacturer and retailer, on the sidelines of a seminar organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Mumbai on Monday.
Leading diamond jewellery manufacturer and retailer Gitanjali Gems Ltd is entering into real estate business through its maiden residential project at Borivli, in Mumbai's western suburb.
Come December, the Forevermark brand will take on India's leading diamond retailers
The spot gold was sold below the landed cost due to the weak demand for the metal.
Most economists say the impact on inflation could be substantial, considering that steel prices rose by over 9 per cent in the past year.
India retains its number one position in gold consumption in 2009, recording a total demand of 405.8 tonnes.
Initially, the industry thought jatropha could be grown on wasteland, without irrigation. They got it wrong, as good care is required for at least three years of the total plant life of 40-45 years, in which moderate irrigation is also required.
Diamond Trading Corporation, the marketing arm of the world's largest diamond producer De Beers, is planning to increase its intake by 25 per cent from its last year's sale of $3.5 billion.
Unperturbed by the recent arrest of 21 Indians for allegedly smuggling diamonds from Hong Kong to mainland China, Indian diamond jewellery manufacturers continue to actively explore the potential in the market of that vast country.
The National Spot Exchange Ltd has urged the government's Food Corporation of India to reduce the permitted price if it wishes wheat to be auctioned under the government's Open Market Sales Scheme.
With the start of rabi crop arrivals, the prices of agri commodities have declined in the past two months, raising hope that food prices will moderate in the weeks ahead.
Economists forecast the benchmark food price indicator to slip to 12 per cent in near future
Annual food inflation has picked up for the second consecutive week, with the food price index rising 17.56 per cent in the 12 months till January 23, higher than an annual rise of 17.40 percent in the previous week, data released on Thursday showed. What may, however, lift spirits a little is the fact that the prices of pulses, a major contributor to spiralling food inflation, have declined over 40 per cent from their peak, on the back of rising arrivals and imports.
In the past two years, high-end luxury watch brands have grown by 20-22 per cent, as against 7-8 per cent growth in low-end watches.
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