Guess the bears will have to come up with a new reason to claim that the gold bull market has ended.
Jewellery strike ends as India defers excise duty on non-branded gold
With government postponing indefinitely its proposal to bring non-branded gold jewellery under the excise duty net, jewellers have started making a tentative move to re-open shutters.
With the Indian government stating that it would delay the implementation of hiking the excise duty on non-branded gold jewellery, the bullion strike in India has been officially called off. Jewellers in Mumbai and several parts of the country were back to their stores Monday afternoon, expecting a revival in demand.
The strike by jewellers and retailers began on March 17, immediately after the Union Budget, to protest the government's decision to impose excise duty on non-branded jewellery and doubling of the import duty on gold to 4%. Market estimates have placed the loss at a staggering $2.1 billion.
Bachhraj Bamalwa, chairman of the All India Gems and Jewellery Trade Federation which had given the call to strike, said the government had assured that no jeweller would be forced to register to pay excise duty, and that no coercive action would be taken.
Though some retailers and traders staged a protest in New Delhi on Monday morning, traders in Mumbai and other parts of the country opened their stores late afternoon as the news spread.
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