Hundreds of jewellery shops dot the lanes and bylanes, and there is hustle and bustle throughout the day at Zaveri Bazaar in Mumbai, the oldest, biggest and busiest bullion market of India.
The situation is different now, and the business of gold and silver here has taken a huge blow, with volumes coming down to 10% of the normal trade. Just in terms of volume, 65% of all gold trading and dealing in India is estimated to originate from the market.
A visit to Zaveri Bazaar revealed that volumes have come down because of unavailability of cash in the wake of the November 8 demonetisation.
“The situation is very bad, we are going through very difficult times... I had never seen such a thing in the past... we have gone through several recessionary phases, but this is unprecedented,” said a leading jewellery trader.
In Zaveri Bazaar, there are more than 5,000 jewellery shops — wholesale and retail, and several production units. Several lakhs of people including migrant workers and artisans work and stay here, making it a congested business hub.
According to one of the top wholesalers of bullion, gold jewellery sales per day is of the order of 400 kg or Rs 120 crore, while the sale of gold bars is 300 kg or 90 crore.
“By cheque or new currency (new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes, and existing Rs 100 notes), gold is being sold at Rs 29,000 per 10 gms, and Rs 42,000 per kg of silver... in old currency, the rate of gold is Rs 36,000 to Rs 37,000 per 10 gms, and Rs 46,000 to Rs 47,000 per kg of silver,” sources at Zaveri Bazaar said.
Published 22 November 2016, 18:05 IST