Bhubaneswar: With Dhanteras being celebrated today, people in the Twin City had been seen making a beeline to jewellery stores for the past couple of days to pick their share of gold and silver. And why not when the occasion offers them a reason to buy and the jewelers even more reasons to attract customers with offers.
"This year we expect a good Dhanteras and better sales. So far the footfall has been really good." said Mitesh Khimji, proprietor, Khimji Jewellers.
Asked about GST impacting Dhanteras, Mitesh replied, "There has not been much impact of GST in Odisha market. People are buying normal. This year we can see the excitement among the customers."
Tough competition, however, can be seen on the streets of the cities between various jewellery brands. The shop owners are trying to attract the customers to buy more with discounts and gifts, besides offers.
Kishanlal Gupta, CFO, Lalchand Jewellers said, "We saw good rush in our showrooms in the last few days before Dhanteras. We are offering good discount. The making charge on the ornaments have been reduced as well. People are enthusiastically buying precious metals because of the discount and various gift items like Gold and Silver coins."
With the price per 10 gram for 22 carat gold reaching Rs 30,130 and for 24 carat gold reaching Rs 31,360 today, people are lured to buy the precious metal on a festival which has never been a part of the culture in the state. Customers also acknowledge that the celebration of Dhanteras has been an impact of television and Bollywood increasing the significance of the fest in the Odia society.
"Though Dhanteras is not a part of our culture, impact of television and the offers given by various jewelers is the main reason I think people are coming in good numbers to buy gold and the same is the case with me," said a customer Vikash Pradhan.
Another buyer Kavita Kar said, ", "We are here to buy gold ornaments. Offers available in the shops are attracting us and we also get a wide range of designs during this period."
Neither demonetization nor the implementation of GST have stopped the people from immersing in a predominantly north Indian festival that had not gained much prominence in Odisha even a decade back.
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