Tamil Nadu jewellers to stop sale of gold coins

Around 30,000 jewelers in Tamil Nadu will stop selling gold and will not support gold savings schemes and other promotional schemes in the state, Tamil Nadu Jewelers Federation president B. Sabarinath said on Wednesday.

Expressing concern over the increase in import duty on gold jewelery and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s foreign exchange reserves, the association said this was a measure it had suggested to its members to help reduce gold imports.

“Import duty was increased overnight and there are rumors that GST may also be increased. The Reserve Bank of India bought 125 tonnes of gold last month. Jewelers have taken loans from banks and if demand is curtailed, repayments will be adversely affected,” he said.

According to Coimbatore Jewelers Association president SM Kamal Hasan, the retail price of gold increased by ₹ 1,000 per gram on Wednesday as the government increased taxes by 10%. The price of gold in Coimbatore on Tuesday was ₹14,400 per gram. It rose to ₹15,400 per gram on Wednesday. Of this, taxes alone account for ₹3,000.

He said we’ll have to wait and watch how spending happens as wedding season reaches its peak next month.

There are around 35,000 gold smiths in Coimbatore, employing around 1 lakh people.

Mr. Sabarinath added that sales have fallen by 60% in the last one year due to fluctuating gold prices. “We have given a road map to the government to bring approximately 25,000 tons of gold lying idle in the hands of consumers into the system. The government should include jewelers in gold monetization plans. It should also immediately ban ETFs and digital gold sales and restrict gold importers, channeling agents and bullion dealers.”