Dhanteras marks the beginning of the five-day Diwali festivity. On the day, people traditionally have been making it a point to buy gold and silver as an investment as they consider bringing the precious metals home on the occasion as a token of prosperity. However, this does not seem to be the case for many this year.
While jewellers across the city are eagerly awaiting huge influx of buyers on this auspicious day with wide offers and discounts to lure the customers, it looks like the customers are no more in a mood to invest on the precious jewellery.
Many jewellers are lamenting that the flow of customers this year is less than the of the previous year. Nitish Goyal, one of the jewellers in Sadar Bazar, said, “Dhanteras is one of the most auspicious festivals. People consider lucky to buy jewellery for themselves or for their loved ones on this day. Everyone eagerly waits for this day every year.”
However, he laments that the last few years have seen people preferring low weight silver coins as compared to other costly jewellery. “Therefore, we are offering silver coins weighing from four grams,” he disclosed his strategy to salvage the stituation.
Not just silver coins, silver bars and Lakshmi and Ganesha idols are also luring customers towards the market. “This year, most of the people are considering buying coins as auspicious instead of heavy jewellery,” said Jai Marwah, another jeweller.
However, some people are still inclined towards buying jewellery as they do not want to break their family tradition. Soniya Gupta, a resident of Sector 15, said, “It is a tradition of our family to buy a piece of jewellery on Dhanteras. It is not necessary to buy a heavy piece. It can be a light weight jewellery too. I have pre-booked a gold set which I will bring on Dhanteras.”
Not just jewellers, crockery stores also giving lucrative offers. “Everyone cannot afford gold or silver so they buy utensils on this day as a token of luck,” informed Manish Aggarwal, a crockery store owner.
Besides, electronics and mobile shops are also offering discounts on order to cash in Diwali festivity.
