Onlykashmir.in News Desk
The trend among Indians to exchange old gold for new jewellery has continued into the Diwali buying season, according to the World Gold Council (WGC). The Council also reports a growing preference for lightweight, lower-carat and studded jewellery.
Elevated gold prices mean people are paying more for less gold by weight, yet buying continues. Tanishq’s Chief Marketing Officer Pelki Teshering is quoted as saying that gold exchange currently drives almost 50 per cent of the company’s business. A senior employee at one of its Delhi stores, who did not want to be named, estimates that 60 per cent of customers this season are bringing old gold to buy new jewellery.
Kavita Chacko, the WGC’s head of research in India, said many factors are at play, but “affordability is really the main driver”. With gold prices more than doubling over the past two years, she said, consumers are increasingly exchanging existing gold to offset the cost of new purchases.
The numbers show the squeeze. In the first nine months of 2025, Rs 1 lakh could buy about 10.7 grams of gold at the period’s average price, before making charges and taxes. On the same terms, in the corresponding period of 2026, it could buy only 6.7 grams. An exchange allows the value of an old ornament to go towards a new one, reducing what families must pay from savings. Many stores have also encouraged exchanges with plans, discounts and offers, helping keep sales moving.
Indian households are estimated to hold about 31,000 tonnes of gold, which is enough, by weight, to give one kilogram each to 3.1 crore people.
Another factor may be Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s May 10, 2026 appeal to defer gold purchases for a year. Chacko said a WGC consumer survey indicates that some consumers were influenced by it. On May 12, in what it called a direct response to the appeal, Kalyan Jewellers launched its Nation First-Gold4India initiative, which includes old gold exchange promotion and gold recirculation. Managing Director T.S. Kalyanaraman said the goal is to reduce gold imports by 5 tonnes by the end of 2026-27. On May 13, PNG Jewellers launched its Swarna Swaraj programme, offering gold recirculation, lower-carat and lightweight collections and local outreach. Arun Narayan, head of Titan’s jewellery division, has also said in media interviews that the company stepped up its exchange campaign after the appeal.
Tanishq was among the early adopters of the old gold exchange. By June 2023, it said it had exchanged 100 tonnes through the programme. By October 2025, that figure had risen to 170 tonnes, an indication of the scale of such exchanges.
