There is a glaring North-South divide when it comes to buying gold jewellery. The northern region, which constitutes 15% of the total gold demand in the country, prefers studded gold ornaments while the southern region prefers pure gold. Annually, India imports 800-900 tonnes of gold and as per estimates the total demand is 1,500 tonnes, including recycled gold and imported through illegitimate manner.

“North and South India, including western region, have a huge potential, but the market differs in customer preferences. For example, in North people prefer gold jewellery studded with diamonds or stones while in the South people prefer yellow metal ornaments,” said Sanjay Raghuraman, COO, Kalyan Jewellers.

“There is a marked difference in buying habits in North and South India. While in South, customers have number of pairs of ornaments, it is not apparent in North,” said Anil Talwar, founder, All India Gems and Jewellery Trade Federation.

According to experts, people in South are more aware about hallmarking as the sale of hallmarked gold jewellery is the highest in the southern region (70-80%) while it is not so popular in North. The Bureau of India Standards (BIS) has set standards for hallmarking of gold jewellery in three grades — 14 carat, 18 carat and 22 carat. Around 2,000 jewellers in the region, comprising Haryana, Punjab, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, J&K, Uttarakhand and some parts of Uttar Pradesh are registered with BIS to sell hallmarked jewellery.

According to World Gold Council estimates, there are 385,000-4,10,000 jewellers in India. Out of this, roughly 35% are based in northern states. Despite shortcomings, the industry feels that both the regions have huge potential and demand is growing at a healthy pace. To further strengthen its presence, brands are focusing on customers’ affordability.

“We see a huge potential in North India. As the industry is getting more and more regulated, organised businesses like ours is poised to grow,” said Raghuraman. According to Talwar, with the rollout of GST, many small jewellers have shut down their operations. “The industry is getting organised but still unorganised players have a lion’s share of the market though their share in sales is coming down,” he said.