The gold sales on Dhanteras was more than the expectation a sit was recorded to be around 30 tonnes, said the national secretary of Indian Bullion and Jewellers Association, Surendra Mehta. He said that gold sales inthe past few years used to be around 40 tonnes, but due to high prices and liquidity crunch in the market this year, it was expected that the sales might be around 20 tonnes. The sales have dropped by around 25 per cent as compared to last year.

“We didn’t expect so much sales because the demand for goldin the domestic market was down due to high prices,” Mehta said.“The gold prices in the domestic bullion market are high due to the soaring prices ofgold in the international market and increase in import duty on expensivemetals in India. Therefore, the demand for gold was expected to be less whenthe festive season started, but due to the improved buying trends in the lastthree-four days, gold sales were recorded to be 30 tonnes on Dhanteras,” Mehtatold IANS.

While talking to on October 8, Mehta had said that due toweak demand, they expected that only 20 tonnes of gold will be sold in thedomestic bullion market on Dhanteras this year.

Ajay Kedia, Director, Kedia Advisory, said that goldpurchase was low by 25 per cent as compared to last year.The gold prices onFriday closed at Rs 38,275 per 10 gm whereas last year the metal price was Rs31,702 per 10 gm.

The government has increased the import duty on expensivemetals to 12.5 per cent from 10 per cent so as to reduce the import of gold dueto which the precious metal became expensive in the country.