KAKINADA: Demonetisation has fetched good returns for gold and jewelry merchants, especially six to seven big traders in Kakinada, Rajahmundry of East Godavari and Narasapur in West Godavari District. It is estimated that the traders did business worth nearly Rs 150 crore after demonetisation at a rate of Rs 4,200 to Rs 4,800 per gram as against the market price of Rs 3,200. Much of the gold is being sold as biscuits.
According to gold market traders, they used to sell 1.5 kilos to 2 kilos of gold per day before demonetisation. They did business worth an average of Rs 15 to Rs 20 crore the same time last year. They said that six to seven major gold merchants have sold gold biscuits in large numbers. A “Hyderabad-based pearl trader’’ and four Maharashtra-based traders sold gold biscuits in large quantity.
Some of the other traders also did well. “Traders maintained two accounts; one for accounted transactions and another for unaccounted transactions. Gold merchants generally show 30 per cent of transactions in first account and remaining 70 per cent in the second account. Gold merchants should not sell gold biscuits without permission from the authorities concerned. But it is being done,’’ said a gold merchant. He said gold ornaments have also been sold in a good quantity but, it is smaller than gold biscuit sales.
