Gold price touches Rs 60,000 for 1st time in Bhubaneswar

BHUBANESWAR: For the first time in the history of Bhubaneswar, the price of gold crossed Rs 60,000 per 10gm, forcing many customers here to sell their old ornaments to buy new ones.
The price of 24-carat gold per 10 gm is now Rs 61, 400 in Bhubaneswar. Last week it was Rs 57, 620 for the same amount.

Since March 15, there has been a rise of Rs 1,500 for 10 grams of 22 carat gold while a rise of Rs 2,200 was recorded in the price of 10 gm of 24 carat gold. Market insiders have attributed the surge in price to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, recession in the global market and the weakening rupee. “The price of the yellow metal has been on a constant rise in the last few months. During this year’s wedding season, we saw many customers exchanging or selling off their old ornaments to buy new ones. Buying gold as a wedding gift has proved to be expensive for many families this wedding season,” Mahesh Verma, the secretary of Cuttack Gold Jewellers’ Association, said.
Many shop owners said that there has been a 25% hike in the sale of old ornaments in the last few months.
“If I bought new jewellery at the current price range it would have cost me not less than Rs 70,000. Thus, I exchanged some of my old unused ornaments for new ones,” Indumati Mahapatra, a retired schoolteacher, said.
Not just gold, even the price of silver has increased significantly. On March 12, a kilogram of the metal cost Rs 65,000 but on Friday, it went up to Rs 70,000.
Jewellers also said that customers are confused over the mandatory hallmarking on gold ornaments across India from April 1 and as a result, they are selling off their non-hallmarked jewellery. “As per the rule, jewellers cannot sell non-hallmarked gold to customers,” Jagannath Majhi, head of the Bhubaneswar branch of BIS, said. There are 28 hallmarking centres in Odisha.