Gold sales on Akshaya Tritiya to cross 35 tonnes

Chennai, Apr 20 (UNI) Gold sales on the auspicious occasion of 'Akshaya Tritiya' this year is expected to cross 35 tonnes in the country with Tamil Nadu alone accounting for more than 20 tonnes.

Giving the statistics 'The Gold Club Chennai' secretary N Anantha Padmanabhan said, ''It is absolutely unprecedented and the sales will exceed our expectations in Tamil Nadu.'' It is believed that it was auspicious to buy a piece of yellow metal on the Akshya Tritiya day, which falls on April 19-20 this year.

Last year, the sales were about 35 tonnes and this would likely to increase this year especially in Tamil Nadu, Mr Padmanabhan pointed out.

Chennai would account for 'slightly' over 25 per cent of the total sales and the maximum sales would be today, the final day of 'Akshaya Tritiya,' he said.

Apart from the sales in the jewellery shops, banks have started promoting their gold retail business in a big way this year.

While Kotak Mahindra Bank was pushing its Eternity Gold Bars, HDFC Bank was advertising its Mudra Gold Bars and offering a 4.5 to five per cent discount on 5 gm, 10 gm coins and 50 gm bars.

ealising that Akshaya Tritiya has grown from a regional festival to a nationwide event, ICICI Bank too was trying to popularise its Pure Gold brand.

Union Bank of India, which was only into gold wholesale business earlier, has also enrolled in the list of banks selling gold coins.

The bank announced that it would be promoting gold sales during festivals such as Akshaya Tritiya and Vishu. Indian Bank, which hitherto sold gold in four gram to 50 gm denominations under the banner of Swarna Mudra, has added two gram coin to its offer basket on Tritiya.

There are different versions for the celebration of Akshaya Tritiya, with one story saying it was the day on which Adi Sankara sang his ''Kanakadhara sostra.'' Another version is that it happens to be the birthday of Lord Parasurama, one of the avatars of Lord Vishnu.

UNI