People rushed to buy gold just after demonetisation announcement, gold worth Rs 5,000 crore sold on Nov 8-9

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People rushed to buy gold just after demonetisation announcement, gold worth Rs 5,000 crore sold on Nov 8-9
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared a war against black money on November 8, when he declared old currency notes of Rs 1000 and Rs 500 as illegal tender. Soon after the announcement, in a bid to convert black money into white, people went in a tizzy to buy gold ornaments and bars.

According Surendra Mehta, national secretary of India Bullion & Jewellers Association (IBJA), jewellers sold 15 tonnes of gold ornaments and bars, worth around Rs 5,000 crore, on the intervening night of November 8 and 9.

IBJA has 2,500 jewellers registered with it from across the country.

"We estimate gold worth Rs 5,000 crore, or around 15 tonnes, was sold between 8 pm on November 8 and 2-3 am the next day, after the PM's demonetisation announcement,” Mehta told ET.

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He also added that more than half of the sales happened in Delhi, UP and Punjab. He claimed that only 1,000 of around 6 lakh jewellers across the country had accepted Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes in exchange for gold on the night of November 8.

IBJA is now asking the government to take strict action against erring jewellers because they had brought a "bad, name to the entire trade, Mehta added.

The figure of 15 tonnes is significant as it amounts to over a fifth of the monthly sales of gold in a normal year