Gold buying for Kolkata citizens working in offices becomes a bit arduous, here's why

If you want to buy a piece of gold jewellery in Kolkata now, you have to take leave from work. The state government has announced that gold jewellers can open for business only between 12 noon and 3 pm.

However, retailers are not at all happy with the schedule that the chief minister announced on May 5.

Appeal again

Jewellers across the state of West Bengal would again submit a memorandum to the Chief Minister.

“We are grateful to the CM for her concern. We are the only sector for which general timings for shops have been altered. But the window is not enough. We have demanded at least 5 hours for business every day. We are going to submit a letter with this plea. We hope she would appreciate our point of concern,” said Bablu Dey, General Secretary, Swarnosilpo Bachao Committee (SSBC).

On May 3, office bearers of SSBC met Mamata Banerjee asking for some relief the timing for business.

Earlier on April 30, chief secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay had announced that gold shops – along with all other retailers – have to open for business between 7 am and 10 am and 3 pm and 5 pm, which retailers found impossible to adhere to.

“Gold shops are pleading to change the time. So we have decided that all jewellery outlets should remain open from 12 pm to 3 pm,” Mamata Banerjee had said on Wednesday during a press conference.

Price drop

On May 5, 24 carat gold hit just below Rs 46,600/10 gms and 22 carat gold slipped to Rs 44,700/10 gms.

The price was about Rs 2,500 higher for both varieties in March-April.

SSBC is a large association of jewellers in Bengal. More than 12,000 jewellers are members of SSBC.

In the jewellery hub of Bowbazar in central Kolkata, 85% of the jewellers are members of this association.