Gold purchases rose 30% as prices fell 21%:52 tonnes of gold worth ₹72,000 crore sold during Diwali-Dhanteras; silver purchases also rose 10%

Gold prices fell from a record ₹1.80 lakh to ₹1.42 lakh per 10 grams. This amounted to a decline of ₹38,000 (21%). Subsequently, gold purchases during Dhanteras and Diwali rose 30% compared with last year. Around 52 tonnes of gold were bought across the country during this period, worth ₹72,000 crore. Silver purchases also rose 10% to 300 tonnes. It was worth around ₹5,400 crore. Gold sales had fallen 50% by September Gold sales volume had fallen by around 50% through September in the current financial year compared with last year. The decline was attributed to high gold prices, an increase in import duty and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal to people not to buy gold. Start of the wedding season also boosted purchases According to IBJA national secretary Surendra Mehta, many customers had postponed buying gold because of rising prices. They have now returned to the market following the decline in prices. He said gold purchases are still continuing. Meanwhile, according to the India Bullion and Jewellers Association (IBJA), the start of the wedding season also played an important role in increasing purchases. Diamond sales rose 250%, jumping 47% during Diwali Natural diamond sales during Dhanteras were 250% higher this year than last year, according to Bengaluru-based jewellery brand C Krishniah Chetty Jewellers. In other words, if 100 diamonds were sold last year, 350 were sold this year. Sales during Diwali, meanwhile, rose by 47%. This means 1.47 times as many diamonds were sold this year as last year. According to the company, natural diamond sales were the second-highest in the past eight years. The market for lab-grown diamonds is also growing rapidly. The lab-grown diamond market will be worth ₹5,179 crore by 2028 According to NITI Aayog, India’s lab-grown diamond jewellery market was worth ₹3,452 crore in 2025. It is estimated to grow to ₹5,179 crore by 2028. India exported 1.88 crore carats of lab-grown diamonds in the 2025-26 financial year, while natural diamond exports stood at 1.60 crore carats. However, jewellers view them not as an alternative to natural diamonds, but as a separate category of jewellery.