Traders caution that branded jewellery customers may start opting for substitutes as high prices of previous metals and stones have already made buying any luxury items unaffordable for most of the middle class.
Jaitley on Monday rejected demands for rollback of the 1% excise duty.
Twelve of the 22 Indian diamond traders, detained in China on charges of smuggling, returned home early on Friday after they were let off following deportation orders by a Chinese court. "We are happy that 12 diamond traders held in China returned to India late last night. We are making all efforts to bring back the remaining traders," Gems & Jewellery Export Promotion Council Chairman Rajiv Jain said.
Currently, India is the reigning leader in global diamond polishing and export business with an estimated global market share of around 90 per cent.
Gold traders and jewellers continued their strike for the 17th day today in protest against the 1 per cent excise duty on non-silver jewellery announced in the Budget.
Most of the bullion markets and jewellery showrooms remained closed in major cities.
Gold imports more than doubled in August to a record high of $10.06 billion, mainly on account of a drastic cut in customs duty and ongoing festive demand, according to the Commerce Ministry data. Gold imports stood at $4.93 billion in August 2023. On record high imports, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said that the tariff rates on gold have been reduced drastically so that smuggling and other activities can come down.
Although the country's leading gems and jewellery traders, dealers and exporters are ready to grab a significant portion of the $25-billion market, key changes are required in the country's Income Tax Act and Customs Act.
Exports of gold jewellery fell 23.13 per cent to $1153 million.
Non-resident Indians are bringing gold into the country by taking advantage of rules that allow each individual to carry 1 kg of the metal, helping traders cope with restrictions on imports during the peak wedding season.
Association will write a letter to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to demand a rollback.
'Irrespective of the price movement of gold, customers can lock in their purchase at Rs 28,000 per 10 grams of pure gold.'
Since most banks have tightened lending to diamond merchants and others are about to do so, many medium and small diamond dealers are approaching large players for credit facility within the industry
It may touch Rs 19,800 crore.
Mahesh Savani, the diamond trader has been paying for the weddings of fatherless women in the city of Surat for several years.
Three-four big gem and jewellery firms are showing financial weaknesses and might find it tough to withstand shocks
India has imposed several restrictions on imports of gold, the biggest non-essential import item, to curb a record trade deficit.
Uzbekistan lives comfortably in several centuries but is also a forward-looking nation, Deepa Gahlot discovers on a visit to this Central Asian country.
The moves by the RBI, announced late on Wednesday, should increase supplies of gold and brighten the earnings outlook for jewellery makers after the government took tough measures to curb imports last year, analysts said.
Aiming at rough diamond imports of $1 billion annually, Diamond India Ltd, a grouping of 60 traders, is looking at markets other than Russia to scale up its imports.
Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, last month urged small traders to compete with foreign retail chains through e-commerce.
Spot gold dropped at $ 1,081.85 an ounce in early European trade and silver dipped $ 14.64 an ounce.
Mehta's export company is the largest integrated gold player in the world.
Consumer sentiment seen better than last year's
Gold plunged sharply to hit a three-month low.
Gold import from the UAE at a lower rate of duty -- in terms of an agreement -- has posed a survival challenge for the Indian refining industry while hurting the price discovery of the metal, with the India International Bullion Exchange starting operations at GIFT City. The problem has arisen after the government signed the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with the UAE. Under it, Indian jewellery manufacturers have been allowed to import gold at a concessional rate of 14 per cent against 15 per cent, which is normal.
'Shark fins are the most sought-after shark product.'
No form or requisition slip is required for exchange of Rs 2,000 notes up to a limit of Rs 20,000 at a time as part of exercise to withdraw high-value currency notes from circulation. RBI on Friday in a surprise move announced withdrawal of Rs 2,000 currency notes from circulation but gave public time till September 30 to either deposit such notes in accounts or exchange them at banks. Unlike the November 2016 shock of demonetisation, when old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes were invalidated overnight, the Rs 2,000 notes will continue to be a legal tender.
'It is necessary to have a person at the top who can make strict decisions without hesitation. Modiji has done that.'
Sales of gold coins and bars should be curbed after reaching around 300 tonnes
Jewellers across the country will go on a 'token strike' on August 23 against the "arbitrary implementation" of mandatory hallmarking of gold jewellery, All India Gem and Jewellery Domestic Council (GJC) said on Friday. The strike will be supported by 350 associations and federations from all four zones of the entire gems and jewellery industry, the GJC claimed. Mandatory gold hallmarking has come into force from June 16 in a phased manner. The government has identified 256 districts from 28 states and union territories for the phase-1 implementation.
Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus of the Tata Group, on Sunday said ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala will always be remembered for his acute understanding of the markets as well as for his jovial personality, kindness, and foresightedness. Jhunjhunwala, often referred to as 'India's Warren Buffett', passed away here Sunday morning due to a cardiac arrest. He was 62. Jhunjhunwala had investments in more than three dozen companies, the most valuable being watch and jewellery maker Titan, part of the Tata conglomerate.
Zaveri Bazar alone clocks an estimated annual turnover of Rs 5 lakh crore (Rs 5 trillion), estimates the Bombay Bullion Association.
Online retail in India touched $12.6 billion in 2013.
'There are unscrupulous traders who create fake invoices by showing bogus e-way bills, movement of goods.' 'Since the entities registered across different states, and kept on changing their numbers, tracing them was difficult.'
Regaining the lost sheen, sales of gold jewellery and coins are set to touch pre-COVID levels in volume terms on the auspicious Dhanteras as easing pandemic concerns and pent up demand saw consumers flocking to stores to buy the precious metal. Increased footfall at stores and brisk sales online as well as relatively softer gold prices compared to record Rs 57,000 per 10 grams level in August spurred increased buying, especially light weight offerings, on Tuesday. Dhanteras is considered to be auspicious for buying precious metals and other valuable items.
Gold and diamond retail chain Malabar Gold & Diamonds will be investing Rs 1,600 crore in FY22 to launch 56 stores globally with 40 across India and 16 internationally in FY22 to further boost its retail presence across the globe. The move is expected to generate over 1,700 jobs. In India, the expansion strategy is centred in states like Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Delhi, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and Kerala. Internationally, the expansion will be in markets such as Singapore, Malaysia, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and UAE.
The Surat diamond industry is likely to face a loss of around Rs 8,000 crores in next two months as Hong Kong, which is a major export destination, has declared a state of emergency due to the coronavirus outbreak in China, say experts. Hong Kong is a major business hub for the Surat diamond industry, but schools and colleges have been closed there till the first week of March and even businesses are seeing a dip in view of the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.
Some jewellers kept their shops shut in Mumbai as well.
Gitanjali Gems and Firestar Diamonds together account for 5.8 per cent of the diamond and jewellery trade in India.
