Gold prices may touch Rs 35,000 by Diwali
Gold prices are on an upward spiral ahead of the marriage season. It climbed to an all-time high of Rs 28,150 per 10 grams on Friday, posting its biggest-ever single day gain of Rs 1,310 amid frantic buying triggered by robust demand in global markets. Experts said prices may even touch Rs 35,000 level during Diwali.However, an increasing number of people are shifting funds to gold, informed Ajay Mitra, Managing Director, (Middle East and India), World Gold Council, during his visit to the city.
He said, “The second quarter this year has been excellent for investments in gold around the world, especially in India. With inflation reaching a record high, and extreme volatility in the equity markets, investment in gold is a trend that is gaining popularity. This is also because investors are looking to diversify their portfolios.”
People are investing more in gold bars and coins of lower denomination than jewellery.
The jewellery sector witnessed an increase of 44 per cent in terms of demand whereas investment sector (bars and coins) saw an increase of 119 per cent. Increasing gold prices may translate into dip in sales for small and medium jewellers. This, because customers will now be very particular about quality and finish and are likely to approach the bigger jewellery outlets.
Mitra even threw some insight the stage when people used to sell gold during tough times. He said, “In the year 2010, 81 tons were sold as scrap. However, in 2011, 20 tons were sold, which means people are not selling gold to meet their financial crisis.”
Interestingly, there is an increase in consumers investing in schemes with the jeweller. According to a survey, around 64 per cent of the jewellers offer the savings scheme whereas cities like Chennai, Nagpur, Madurai have 100 per cent jewellers that offer such schemes.
Soaring gold price dampens consumer sentiment
New Delhi/Mumbai, Aug 20 (IANS) Soaring gold price caused by international economic concerns seem to have dampened sentiments of the domestic consumers who are being deterred by an all-time high price of Rs.28,100 per 10 grams of the yellow metal, say experts.
‘Consumer demand has obviously come down. People have suddenly stopped buying,’ said Balram Garg, managing director and chief executive of the Delhi-based PC Jewellers Group.
Though the footfall at jewellery showrooms may have fallen, the year-on-year demand was still robust, he said.
‘A majority of consumers do not go for medium to large quantity, they are focusing on small quantities for now,’ he said.
Gold prices soared to an all time high of Rs.28,100 per 10 grams in the local market Saturday.
In Delhi, gold prices surged over Rs.28,000 per 10 grams – a Rs.1,200 hike over Thursday’s closing.
Garg was optimistic that the festival season would shore-up the consumer sentiment for the precious metal.
‘Despite the surge, we are optimistic that the consumers will come back (to showrooms) owing to the festival, season round the corner,’ said Garg adding that the price may reach Rs.30,000 per 10 grams by Diwali.
Jewellers in the national capital’s famous Dariba Kalan market said that high prices have driven away customers.
‘Consumers know that high prices would continue, but they are very careful to choose the right time to buy or sell gold,’ said Pawan Verma of Vipul Jewellers.
But commodities analysts feel that the gold price may be moving towards a correction as profit booking and re-sale of gold has increased.
‘There might be a correction in the short run due to profit-booking. But for the long term the gold prices will continue to be high,’ Naveen Mathur, associate director, commodities and currencies told IANS from Mumbai.
Tourism Dept to press for easing dry law for visitors
Following the state Home Department’s refusal to ease the state’s dry law to woo more tourists, the Tourism Department now plans to approach the chief secretary with the request.
Principal Secretary (Tourism) Vipul Mitra told The Indian Express on the sidelines of the three-day long Travel and Tourism Fair (TTF) on Friday here that his department will make a renewed attempt to get the Prohibition restrictions relaxed for tourists. “We will move through the proper channel and again discuss it at the chief secretary’s level,” he said.
The three-day long fair in the city has attracted around 350 exhibitors from 26 Indian states and nine countries.
“The TTF is promoting tourism not only in India but also in the host state. Our target is people who opt to spend their Diwali holidays travelling and visiting news places in India as well as abroad,” said Sanjiv Agarwal, organiser of the TTF.
Reel of Life
There are no shortcuts to change and one campaign cannot lead to a radical makeover. The key to development lies in consistency, sustainability and in hanging on long enough to watch it stir,” says 29-year-old Ajay Saklani. He speaks with confidence that comes from a firm belief that is based on his experiences. It is also this conviction that drives him to make documentaries that voice matters of concern. If his first documentary Dyalee projected the unsual way Diwali is celebrated in Himachal Pradesh, for his second documentary Upaasmar - The Taste of Hunger, he travelled deep into the dense forest cover of Maharashtra — to the tiger reservoirs of Melghat, Amravati, 300 km from Wardha. The small district, which comprises 370 villages, first made headlines in the early ’80s, when it was found that more than 500 children died of starvation/malnutrition there every year.
A former media assistant at Mahatma Gandhi International Hindi University, Saklani was introduced to the miseries in the region by one of his students who showed him photographs of the tribals in Melghat. “I made my first trip to Melghat in 2009. It took me nine hours from Wardha to reach on my bike,” recalls Saklani, adding that several trips followed. After ample research and regular weekend visits to the villages, where he met the tribals, he decided to make a documentary on them in January 2010. By that time, Saklani had given up his job and was focusing on Melghat. “Since 1984, the area has seen electricity three times — first in ’88, when Rajiv Gandhi visited, then ’99, when Vilasrao Deshmukh was there, and last in 2009, during Sonia Gandhi’s visit. There is negligible healthcare, no teachers, no education facility, no road connectivity or water resources. People are solely dependent on agriculture and that too is dependent on the rains,” says Saklani, who will be screening the film at various colleges across Chandigarh during the next few days. Guest lectures have also been planned at School of Public health, PGI, and School of Communication studies, Panjab University.
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