Jewellers in Ahmedabad are hopeful about an uptick in business after Rathyatra as past two months have been of unusual slowdown. They say that the overall slowdown of the economy has affected sales of jewellry. High taxes and credit restrictions following Nirav Modi scam has aggravated the slowdown. Normally, the months of May and June constitute off season. However, this year the slowdown was much deeper. "Normally, the business is off season about half of normal season. This year, the business was lower by about 40% even by off season standards," said Jigar Soni, vice-president of Ahmedabad Jewellers Association. He attributes the drop in business to slow down in sectors like real estate, textiles and even agriculture. "There is a cyclic effect on business. When one sector slows down, there is a cascading effect on other sectors of the economy as well," said Soni. Shantibhai Patel, president of Gems and Jewellry Trade Promotion Council, said that with festive season now approaching, there are hopes that business will revive. "The enthusiasm of previous years was absent this time. Not just jewelry sector, but other sectors are also affected," said Patel. Other factors that have contributed to the slowdown include high import duty on gold as well as credit restrictions after Rs14,000 crore scam by diamond trader Nirav Modi. Gold is subjected to 10% import duty and 3% Goods and Services Tax (GST), which Soni feels, is very high for a sector which has a mass clientele. "High taxation leads to illegal cross-border trade. Of late, the retail trade is getting digitized, but the consequent sale of smuggled gold is in cash and significantly cheaper. This should be stopped. We have asked the government to reduce GST from 3% to 1%," said Soni. Credit restrictions by banks in the aftermath of Nirav Modi scam have slowed down all critical sectors, affecting the economy and demand from retail buyers of gold and jewellry. EXPERT SPEAK Shantibhai Patel, pres-ident of Gems and Jewellry Trade Promotion Council, said with festive season now approaching, there are hopes that business will revive.

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