Gold and jewellery sales failed to pick up this festive season, with the number of customers decreasing by around 50% on Dhanteras as compared to the previous year.
Celebrated on Diwali eve, Dhanteras is considered auspicious to invest in gold, silver and other metals. However, it remained a dud Dhanteras for the city-based jewellers, despite gold prices seeing a slight dip on Tuesday.
“The response is very poor this year,” said Vinod Talwar, owner of Krishna Jewellers, Sector 19. “The number of customers has decreased by 50% than the past year.” Talwar said even though roads remained choked in market areas on Tuesday, there weren’t many buyers for gold.
“It seems people don’t have enough cash to invest this time,” he said. “There are just around 40% customers in the market as compared to the situation in 2016,” said Rajeev Sehdev, president of the Chandigarh Jewellers’ Association.
It is mainly due to demonetisation and goods and services tax (GST) that people are unsure to spend, reasoned Sehdev. “People have deposited all their money in banks. There is no money in the market,” he said.
Chandigarh cab service providers cash in on Diwali festive rush
Car sales see dip too
Not just gold, even car sales have witnessed around 50% decline this festive season. “Demonetisation and GST have played a role in discouraging the customers,” said a manager at the Toyota dealership in the Industrial Area, Phase 1. “We have seen 50% dip in our sales this year,” he said. “Our smaller cars, like sedans, are the ones majorly affected. However, our SUVs, such as Innova and Fortuner, have not been affected much.”
A senior employee at the Honda dealership in the same area attributed the slow business to the new cess of 10% introduced on cars in September.
{{/usCountry}}A senior employee at the Honda dealership in the same area attributed the slow business to the new cess of 10% introduced on cars in September.
{{/usCountry}}“To avoid paying cess, people actually resorted to buying cars during Shradh, which is considered inauspicious otherwise . It has resulted in a dip in sales this month,” he said.