Even as the two important festivals - Akshaya Tritiya and Eid-ul-Fitr - will observed in the country on the same day on Friday, the sense of excitement among the jewellers is completely missing. With the restrictions in place to prevent coronavirus, the festivals will be a low-key affair. It is important to note that the festival of Akshaya Tritiya is considered as very auspicious occasion for jewellery buying and thus jewellery markets are usually see heavy rush of buyers. Eid-ul-Fitr also brings excitement to the jewellery markets. But in the current phase, the jewellery markets are closed which has poured cold water over the high expectations of the jeweller. B C Bhartia, National President of Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT); and Praveen Khandelwal, Secretary, said, the jewellery trade across the country will suffer the huge loss. “It will be the second consecutive year for the jewellery traders to remain under lockdown on Akshaya Tritiya festival which is considered very auspicious for gold and jewellery trade in India. Last year also, the jewellery traders were not able to do any significant business,” they said.

 

Pankaj Arora, National Convener of All India Jewellers and Goldsmith Federation (AIJGF); executive members Kishore Dharashivkar and Rajkumar Gupta, said that this year jewellery traders across the country had set high hopes for good business on Akshaya Tritiya but the lockdown has rekindled their expectations and it seems that there will be no business of gold and jewellery on Akshaya Tritiya and Eid. Kishore Dharashivkar and Rajkumar Gupta said that in the year 2019, there was a sale of more than Rs 10 thousand crore on Akshaya Tritiya but last year on the same day due to lockdown in the country on the Akshaya Tritiya, the sale of gold restricted to only 5 per cent amounting to approximately Rs 500 crores.

 

Having Akshaya Tritiya under lockdown period for two continuous years, the gold and jewellery trade has suffered a big setback. The biggest concern of the traders is to restore routine business at a time when they are facing financial crisis. On the other hand, the Government has implemented compulsory hallmarking on all gold items from June 1, 2021 and jewellery trade is not ready and the hallmarking structure is also not available all over the country. Both CAIT and AIJGF have urged the Central Government to extend this date for a suitable period.