Govt banks gear up to meet demand on `Akshaya Tritiya'

The festival is one of the two most auspicious days of the year to buy gold. Hindus believe they can get lasting prosperity by buying precious metals on the day. The other festival is `Dhanteras' before Diwali. Traditionally, most Indians prefer to purchase gold on Akshaya Tritiya either to keep it personally or to gift it.

Most of the jewellers in Andhra Pradesh are keeping a good range of new models to attract the customers, who are expected to flock the outlets in large numbers. Not to be left behind, the government lenders like SBI and Indian Bank are also gearing up to sell gold coins. Despite tomorrow being a Sunday, SBI and Indian Bank's branches here will remain open to transact in gold coins.

The price of a 2 gram gold coin at a SBI counter here was Rs 4,106 on Friday. The bank is offering 1 per cent discount on this price, SBI officials said. SBI is fully geared to meet the demand on Akshya Tritiya, an official said, adding the yellow metal is a safe haven investment in view of a slump in real estate and uncertainty in stock markets. Select branches of Indian Bank will remain open tomorrow and special discounts will be offered to attract customers, official said.