1) Gold consumption in India varies seasonally and is driven by various festivals throughout the year such as Onam, Diwali, and Dussehra. 2) The article discusses gold consumption patterns across four regions in India and how consumption increases during wedding seasons and major festivals. 3) It also provides details on how gold prices are determined globally based on prices set in London, and how that price is then used to set consumer gold prices in India.

1. * THE TIMES OF INDIA, MUMBAI
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 201614 TIMES NATION
Every year, after a short lull during monsoon, gold sales in the country pick up again with festivals. It is Onam that
kick-starts this string of festivals across India. Shenoy Karun writes how gold consumption pattern differs from season
to season across the country and presents the bigger picture of the world’s total production and its major producers
HIGH SALES
LOW SALES
HOW FESTIVALS
DRIVE GOLD
CONSUMPTION
IN INDIA
AKSHAYA TRITIYA | One of
the four most auspicious days
in the Hindi calendar, believed
to bring good luck and success
DASARA | Celebrates the defeat
of demon king Ravana by Lord
Rama, symbolizing the triumph
of good over evil - considered
to be an auspicious day to
begin new enterprises
GUDI PADWA | New
Year for Maharashtrians; marks
the beginning of spring
SHRADH | A week set aside for
ancestral worship
DHANTERAS | The first day
of Diwali festival; the blessings
of Laxmi, goddess
of wealth, are sought
DIWALI | The third and primary
day of the five-day ‘Festival of
Lights’
DURGA PUJA | The most
important festival in Bengal,
usually celebrated on the 6th
to 10th days of the waxing
moon in the sixth month of
Bengali calendar.
ONAM | Annual harvest
festival in Kerala
PONGAL | From the Tamil for
‘boiling over’, a festival in
celebration of the harvest
Kerala market
State’s annual
consumption of gold
60,000 kg
Number of gold
stores in the state
6,000
MAJOR SUPPLIERS | State Trading
Corporation, Metals and Minerals Trading
Corporation of India, Axis Bank, HDFC
Bank, State Bank of India and Scotiabank
SOURCE: INDUSTRY SOURCES
SOURCE:
LONDON
BULLION MARKET
ASSOCIATION
1
2
3
4
1 NORTH ZONE
Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab,
Delhi, Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh,
Uttarakhand & Kashmir
JAN - MARCH
Marriages
APRIL - MAY
Harvest
JUNE-AUG
Monsoon
SEPT-DEC
Dasara, Christmas
HIGH HIGH
LOW HIGH
3 EAST ZONE
Odisha, Bihar, West Bengal & other
eastern states
JAN - MARCH
No Marriages
APRIL - MAY
Marriages
JUNE-AUG
Monsoon
SEPT-DEC
Marriages, Durga
Puja, Diwali,
Christmas
LOW HIGH
LOW HIGH
2 WEST ZONE
Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh,
Maharashtra & Goa
JAN - MARCH
No Marriages
APRIL - MAY
Marriages, Gudi Padwa,
Akshaya Tritiya
JUNE-AUG
Monsoon,
Shradh
SEPT-DEC
Marriages,
Dhanteras, Dasara,
Diwali, Christmas
MEDIUM HIGH
LOW HIGH
4 SOUTH ZONE
Kerala, Karnataka, Telangana,
Tamil Nadu & Andhra Pradesh
JAN - MARCH
No Marriages
(EXCEPT FOR
JAN IN KERALA)
APRIL - MAY
Marriages,
Akshaya Tritiya
JUNE-AUG
Monsoon
SEPT-DEC
Onam, Diwali,
Christmas, Pongal,
Marriages
MEDIUM HIGH
LOW HIGH
WHO ‘DECIDES’ THE PRICE OF GOLD?
For spot gold, London is the global centre. Nearly 87% of the global trading
volume of spot gold, futures and options had been happening there. London
Bullion Market Association (LBMA) Gold Price, which is generally known as the
‘London price’, is fixed twice a day – at 10.30 am and 3 pm. Apart from London,
there are two other major centres of gold trade – New York and Shanghai. Prices
of gold futures traded on New York Mercantile Exchange, US, and the prices at
the Shanghai Gold Benchmark auction, China, also serve as reference prices.
Twice a day, ‘LBMA
gold price’ is fixed by
13 participants of the
auction administered by
Intercontinental
Exchange Benchmark
Administration (IBA)
The banks or trading firms in
India like State Bank of India,
Nova Scotia, and MMTC buy
gold at the LBMA gold price
rate, add import duty and VAT
and sell it to local jewellers
The actual price you
pay in the shop includes
the cost of making
the jewellery, which is
slightly higher than the
prices published in the
newspapers
Everyday, Trade bodies in
India use LBMA gold price and
also the trading price at New
York Mercantile Exchange to
reach a reference price for
their member shops
1 3
2 4
HOW GOLD
IS PRICED
– different
stages
THE POWER OF
G LD SOURCE: COMPANY REPORTS;
GFMS, THOMSON REUTERS
Barrick
Gold
190.3
Newmont
Mining
156.6
AngloGold
Ashanti
122.8
TOP 3 GOLD
PRODUCERS
(2015, in tonnes)
Graphic:
Karthic R
US
192.8
Germany
123.8
Iran
70.9
India
849.9
Saudi
Arabia
84.5
Vietnam
63.4
Thailand
90.2
China
1,037.3
SOURCE:
WORLD GOLD COUNCIL
CONSUMER DEMAND (2015, in tonnes)
CHINA
AUSTRALIA
RUSSIA
UNITED
STATES
PERU
CANADA
SOUTH AFRICA
INDONESIA
MEXICO
GHANA
UZBEKISTAN
BRAZIL
ARGENTINA
PAPUA
NEW
GUINEA
MALI
COLOMBIA
KAZAKHSTAN
PHILIPPINES
TANZANIA
CONGO
275.9
252.4
216.0
175.9
158.7
150.7
134.3
124.6
95.1
80.8
64.1
49.1
47.5
46.8
83.2
57.2
47.6
46.8
45.7
6 8 12 13 15 18
TOP
20
GOLD MINING
COUNTRIES
SOURCE: GFMS, THOMSON REUTERS
REST OF
WORLD
54.72
WORLD
TOTAL
3,157.71
Production in 2015 (in tonnes)
1 2 4 5 20117 171614 193 9 10
458.1