Ahmedabad, April 12: Despite gold prices running high and increasing at an astronomical rate, Gujaratis are buying gold in unbelievable proportions and Gujarati traders are buying and stocking up gold like never before.

Gujarat has imported around 1,300 per cent more gold in the last quarter of 2009-10 than the previous fiscal, according to official figures. Around 69.74 tonnes of gold was imported through the Air Cargo Complex in Ahmedabad between January and March 2010. This is almost 13 times the 5.04 tonnes imported from January to March 2009. Says Rohit Zaveri, “Gujaratis think gold is the best investment and yes, there has been more buying and hence we remain stocked up.”
Gold prices in the 2008-09 fiscal touched hitherto new highs of Rs 13,000 per 10 gms and Rs 15,500 per 10 gms. In the financial year 2009-10, gold prices touched Rs 18,300 per 10 gms in November but soon fell and then remained stable between Rs 16,500 and Rs 17,500 per 10 gms in the January-March period of 2010. In financial year 2009-10, as a whole, robust demand for the precious yellow metal resulted in gold imports in the state rising by 39 per cent as compared to imports in the previous fiscal.
However, higher import duty on silver has led to a sharp fall in the import of the metal during the April-March period. Silver imports in Gujarat have gone down by 70.2 per cent.
Many feel that if Gujarat is bullish on gold, it is almost certain that the metal is set to soar. The basic reason for Gujarati traders buying gold is that they expect huge sales in the coming days, when wedding shopping begins, and a further rise in prices.

Deepal Trivedi