Poll heat takes sheen off Akshaya Tritiya sales

Chennai: In a major disappointment to jewellery traders, gold sales on Monday dipped drastically as ‘Akshaya Tritiya’ failed to attract buyers. The day, which is considered auspicious to make purchase of gold ornaments, gold coins and other gold items, comes with a sentiment attached to it.

“Despite the price of gold going up by Rs 100–150 in the past 10 days, we were not prepared for this dip as sentiment usually out beats cost. However, the dip came as a major shock,” said L.K.S. Syed Ahmed, chief advisor, Tamil Nadu Jewellers’ Federation.

Traders blamed restriction and harassment of traders and public by flying squad for the fall in jewellery business. “Usually, jewellery shops see a huge volume of sales on this day. However, due to the election code of conduct, carrying over Rs 50,000 is highly risky,” said Ahmed. “The introduction of excise duty and government’s decision to make PAN card mandatory on any transaction of '2 lakh and above, are also factors responsible for lack of interest shown by the public,” he said.

“Last year, we witnessed a jump in the sales figure on the occasion. However, this year, we saw a 30 to 40 per cent dip,” he said. “Usually, even if the quantity sold is less, the footfalls are high. However, this year, the footfalls were also  comparatively low.”

“Usually, we see a large number of people purchasing gold coins on this day. However, the sale of coins was  also very low this year,” said Kumar, a jeweller of Sowcarpet.  

According to reports reaching here, other parts of Tamil Nadu, including Tiruchy, Coimbatore, Madurai and Tirunelveli also experienced a 30–40 per cent dip in sales.