Jewellers have called this year’s budget ‘vanilla’, saying it barely has anything new, especially for traders and the common man. Kumar Jain, national spokesperson of India Bullion and Jewellers Association Ltd (IBJA), said, “We had three demands—reduction of tax, import duty and lower GST. We need to see that cash flow has reduced and digital payments are on the rise. The rural areas that are generally ignored account for 65 per cent of gold sales. In this Budget, the government has overlooked a lot of things, common man will not benefit.”

“During Dhanteras last year, 45-55 tonnes of record-breaking sale of gold took place so gold market needs a boost and definitely has potential. The artisans in a 2-crore big industry of ours, are the worst hit and pandemic affected their lifestyle.”