People queued up at shops on the Akshaya Tritiya day from 6 a.m.

INDIAN gold retailers on Tuesday (April 24) reported brisk trade as an auspicious two-day festival got under way, after weeks of subdued business due to a jewellers’ strike and weak global sentiment.

The Akshaya Tritiya festival is considered a lucky time for Hindus to purchase the yellow metal and is subsequently a crucial sales period in India.

But traders had been skeptical about business this year after a recent nationwide strike by jewellers, protesting against the doubling of gold import duties and the imposition of an excise duty on unbranded jewellery.

“Our initial feedback indicates better consumer uptake than what we anticipated earlier,” said Ajay Mitra, director of the World Gold Council for India.

Rajesh Mehta, chairman of India’s largest manufacturer and exporter of gold jewellery, Rajesh Exports, was also upbeat about demand.

“We are seeing people queueing up since shops opened at 6:00 am,” he told reporters.

The three-week jewellers’ strike ended earlier this month after the government promised to consider their demands.

Its move to increase import duties in last month’s budget was a bid to reduce gold imports by the world’s biggest bullion consumer and lower India’s current account deficit.
 

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