Tanishq strikes gold this festive season:Sachin Tendulkar’s exchange campaign, MRIGANKA launch discounts drive record footfalls

This festive season, leading Tata-owned jewellery brand, Tanishq, is seeing a strong wave of demand as customers return to gold buying despite soaring prices. In an exclusive chat with Dainik Bhaskar, Arun Narayan, who currently heads Tanishq India and will take over as CEO of Titan’s Jewellery Division in January 2026, said the brand’s campaigns with Sachin Tendulkar on gold exchange and the launch of the new MRIGANKA collection have drawn an overwhelming response. The gold exchange drive — allowing customers to trade old gold of any carat (9K-24K) without deductions — is being positioned as both a consumer benefit and a national good, reducing dependence on imported gold while letting buyers save on high prices. Narayan added that demand has been strong across metros and smaller towns alike, with shoppers either making up for delayed purchases or buying early ahead of expected price hikes. Here’s the edited excerpt of the interview: Q1. What is the Tanishq festive outlook so far? How has the response been post-launch? Ans: As you’re aware, we have two major campaigns this festive season. The first is a public service message in partnership with Sachin Tendulkar, promoting gold exchange as the best and most responsible way to buy jewellery. Almost all the gold used in India is imported, while Indian households already hold about 25,000 tonnes—much of it ancestral and unused. Our campaign encourages customers to recycle this idle gold, reducing the need for fresh imports. At Tanishq, we are accepting gold of all carats (9K-24K) from any jeweller, with no deductions or hidden charges. Many customers are bringing in old, low-carat, or broken jewellery, coins, and bars to exchange for new designs. This benefits customers by insulating them from high gold prices, since they get the same rate for old and new gold, paying only for making charges. The response to this initiative has been extremely positive. Our second campaign is the launch of the new MRIGANKA collection, which has also received a great response. Given the high gold prices, we’ve introduced a wide range of lightweight jewellery that’s doing well. Overall, the festive period has been very encouraging, with strong demand from customers who had postponed purchases and from those buying early for upcoming weddings, anticipating further price hikes. Q2. Amidst the soaring gold prices, what is the current consumer sentiment? What special schemes have you launched to boost demand? Ans: We believe there are two best ways to buy jewellery today. One is through gold exchange, which I’ve already spoken about, and we’ve seen a very large number of customers opting for it during the festive period. The second is through our RIBA Golden Advantage plan, where customers can buy grams of gold every month, much like an SIP in mutual funds. For example, if you invest ₹10,000 monthly, the equivalent grams of gold at that day’s rate are credited to your account. The programme, launched in January last year, has been gaining steady traction and has now reached its highest level of enrollment. It’s a great way to accumulate gold gradually for future ne eds like weddings or anniversaries. At the end of the tenure, customers get the gold in grams they’ve accumulated, which can then be adjusted against jewellery purchases. If gold prices rise, the grams you get each month may reduce; if prices fall, they increase — so you’re effectively covered against price fluctuations. This makes it a smart and disciplined way to buy jewellery over time. Q3. What are the key growth drivers this festive season, and which markets are leading the charge? Ans: This time, we are seeing a very uniform performance across regions. Usually, some geographies or city tiers do better than others, but this year both metros and smaller towns are performing equally well. Demand has been strong across customer segments — those buying for daily wear or the festive season, and those purchasing for upcoming weddings in the post-Diwali period. The key drivers have been people waiting for the auspicious festive window to buy, and others advancing their purchases fearing that gold rates may rise further. In fact, the steadily increasing gold prices themselves are fueling demand, as many prefer to buy now rather than wait. Q4. You have launched a national exchange campaign with Sachin Tendulkar — can you share some insights about it? What is the offer, and how is it benefiting customers? Ans: Yes, as I mentioned earlier, India has a huge amount of household gold, and if we recycle it, we can significantly reduce our dependence on gold imports, making the nation more self-reliant. That’s the central message of our campaign with Sachin Tendulkar. For customers, the benefit is clear — at Tanishq, you get the same rate for your old gold as for new jewellery. You only pay for the making charges, which protects you from fluctuations in gold prices. This season, we are accepting old gold from 9 to 24 carats, from any jeweller, with no deductions or hidden conditions. It’s the perfect time to bring in unused or idle gold and exchange it for fresh hallmarked jewellery. The response has been outstanding — we’ve seen over 50,000 customers participating in just a few weeks, bringing in older, low-purity pieces as well. The offer is available across all 500 Tanishq stores nationwide, and truly, it’s a campaign that’s good for consumers and good for the country. Q5. There is a lot of chatter around gold schemes, especially during the festive buying period — what does Tanishq have to offer its customers, and how is it different from other players in the market? Ans: Every jeweller has exciting offers during Diwali, and Tanishq too has some of the most attractive deals on both gold jewellery and diamonds. On gold jewellery, customers can get up to ₹600 per gram off, depending on the carat. What makes it even more rewarding is that this can be combined with our gold exchange offer. Customers can bring in their old gold, exchange it for new jewellery, and still avail the festive discount — making it truly the best time to buy. The same applies to diamonds as well — customers can exchange old gold to purchase diamonds and enjoy offers on both.