BHOPAL: On the occasion of the auspicious Akshay Tritiya festival, Bhopalis are looking towards a new trend in purchasing gold. Eyeing a guarantee on their purchases, people are moving towards reputed brands instead of visiting their local jewellers.Despite the cash crunch that has gripped the city, branded jewellery showrooms registered a 30% rise in sale of gold along with platinum and diamonds on the auspicious day, as compared to last year.Sachin, the general manager of a branded showroom said, “People are now looking towards platinum and diamonds as well. Even the middle class now wish to possess platinum jewellery and choose to invest their money in branded items to ensure quality. On Akshaya Tritiya, the market was better than normal days.”He added that with customers facing a lack of cash in hand, payment methods like debit cards, credit cards and cheques have come in handy.Savita Khare, the showroom manager of another well-known jewellery brand said, “This cash-crunch thing is not a huge deal for buyers. Those who wish to buy gold make adequate arrangements to make their wishes come true. There was almost a 40% increase in sales as compared to normal days. Throughout the day, the showroom was full of customers and sale this year was higher than previous.”With buyers preferring branded jewellery instead of non-branded pieces, sarafa bazaar of Bhopal witnessed a fall of 25% in sales. Navneet Agrawal, a jewellery shop owner in Sarafa Bazzar said, “While the elite class have money at their disposal, the middle-class is bearing the brunt of the lack of cash in ATMs. Last year they used to purchase at least 10 grams of gold, but now they have limited themselves to 5 grams. Though many schemes were offered, customers were not convinced.”

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