Mumbai: Zaveri Bazaar, which is usually bustling with people buying gold on Dhanteras every year, wore a deserted look on Tuesday. Jewellers rued the effect of the GST on what used to be a bumper sale season until last year.
Most of the buyers were only buying a coin or two for the sake of tradition. Several of them said they decided to go in for only gold coins due to the 3% GST.
“Business is very slow considering it is Dhanteras. The sales are down by 50% as compared to last year’s. We can not complain, though, as the GST and the demonetisation are steps taken for the development of our country,” said Siddharth Popley, owner of Kewalram Ghanshamdas Popley Jewellers.
Vinod Punjabi, owner of Tahilram Tirthdas Jewellers, said people do not want to spend much, and are prioritising their purchases.
There was, however, some positive response from buyers at outlets like Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri (TBZ) Ltd. and Umedmal Tilokchand Zaveri.
“The GST has not affected our sales at all. A number of customers have been coming in since morning to buy gold coins and jewellery like every year,” said Nivedita Yadav, marketing manager at TBZ.
Kumar Jain, owner of Umedmal Tilokchand Jewellers, said, “There has been no effect on our sales due to the GST. Customers have been coming in to buy jewellery throughout the day. There are some weddings coming up, and people are shopping for those as well. We expect to recover the losses that we had incurred during Dussehra.”
