"The desire for gold is the most universal and deeply rooted commercial instinct of the human race."
- Gerald M Loeb
What Loeb has penned is especially true for Indians. India's love for gold is as ancient as its culture. It's precious and worthy across all times. For Indians, gold jewellery is wearable wealth as well as financial security that's also a fashion statement. Gold in the form of jewellery is given as gift during weddings, festivals and other special occasions. It is still the preferred form of purchase compared with paper gold (ETFs), which has more pros than cons.
Nevertheless, the recent strike by jewellers has made it difficult for investors to liquidate (buy or sell) gold.
Gold and jewellery establishments in many parts of the country remained closed since March 2, 2016, as traders protested against the budget proposal to impose 1 per cent excise duty on non-silver jewellery. While it could look like they are apparently seeking rollback of the 1 per cent excise duty that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had proposed on gold and jewellery sales, the additional duty is not the main concern of jewellers, they are more worried about the 'inspector raj' and the inconvenience it could cause.
