NE BUSINESS BUREAU
MUMBAI, OCT 21
Gold and diamond jewellery retail chain Malabar Gold and Diamonds on Wednesday announced the launch of ”One India One Gold Rate”, an initiative offering uniform gold rate across all states in the country for 100 percent BIS hallmarked gold.
While the international gold prices are transparent and uniform custom duty and taxes are applied across the globe, in India, there exists a disparity across states in the rates of gold, even though gold is primarily sourced from the same designated banks. Such differentiated pricing of gold, which is essentially a commodity of specified and measurable quality, does not favour consumer interest. In some cases, the price difference between the states with highest gold rates and lowest rates is as high as Rs.400 per gram. Malabar Gold & Diamonds, over the years has recognized this issue and worked towards creating a uniform pricing policy to safeguard gold buyers across the country, the release added.
In India, gold is not only considered auspicious, it also is a primary instrument of saving and investment across strata. The One India One Gold Rate initiative will ensure the customers across the country purchase gold at fair price. Also, the gold they are buying is conflict-free and pure by ensuring responsible sourcing. Another key aspect from Malabar is the buyback assurance to the customer whenever they want to sell or exchange their gold all across India.
“While the COVID-19 pandemic has caused severe turmoil across sectors, the demand for gold has stayed consistently high. This shows the Indian consumer” affinity towards the yellow metal as a saving and wealth creation instrument,” Malabar Group Chairman Ahammed MP said in a statement.
Ahammed further noted that “our initiative of ‘One India One Gold Rate’ aims to further protect the consumer interest by providing them with a uniform gold rate without compromising on purity”.
Enthusiastic about the One India One Gold Rate, Asher Ottamoochikkal, MD India Operations, Malabar Gold and Diamonds said, “It is time for the Indian gold sector to set a standard in pricing, sourcing responsibly, and exchange policies to build a sustainable ecosystem. The only differential between buying gold from one manufacturer to another should be the value of designing the ornament and the auxiliary benefits provided to the customer during and after purchase. One India One Gold Rate is a step in this direction and demonstrates our market leadership as far as customer centricity is concerned. At Malabar, we believe that by being transparent and by empowering the customer, we can create an ecosystem built on trust for the sector.”
As customers gear up for Dhanteras and Diwali, Malabar’s initiative on uniform gold pricing would be implemented across its 120 showrooms in the country.
All existing privileges such as zero percent deduction on exchange and best value on buyback will continue like before, the statement added.
