Gold price today: Rs 46,900 per 10 gm; silver at Rs 47,400 per kg

Gold price today of 22-carat gold in New Delhi is about Rs 45,700 per 10 gram, while in Chennai the price is at Rs 44,940

Gold price today jumped to Rs 46,900 from Rs 46,4000 per 10 gram, while silver climbed to Rs 48,300 from Rs 47,400 per kilogram, according to Good Returns.

The gold jewellery prices vary across India — the second-largest consumer of the metal — due to excise duty, state taxes, and making charges.

On MCX, August gold futures jumped 0.07 cent to Rs 46,626 per 10 gram, media reports said.

The price of 22-carat gold in New Delhi is about Rs 45,700 per 10 gram, while in Chennai the price is at Rs 44,940. In Mumbai, it is Rs 44,950.

In the international market, gold was quoting with gains at $1,720 per ounce and silver at $17.70 per ounce.

Silver climbed to Rs 48,300 from Rs 47,400 per kilogram.

"Gold prices traded higher on Wednesday as investors remained cautious ahead of the US FED comments," HDFC Securities Senior Analyst (Commodities) Tapan Patel said. The annual demand for jewellery is around 700 tonnes and Zaveri Bazaar had a daily turnover of around Rs 1,100 crore, media reports indicated. 

In view of the disruption in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis, jewellers have urged the government to extend the next year's deadline for mandatory hallmarking.

The Centre, in November last year, had announced that hallmarking of gold jewellery and artefacts would be made mandatory across the country from January 15, 2021. The government had given jewellers more than a year to shift to hallmarking and register themselves with the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), and they would be allowed to sell only hallmarked jewellery and artefacts made of 14, 18 and 22 -carat gold.

Any violation would attract penalties and imprisonment.

India Bullion and Jewellers Association had also demanded for extension of the deadline by a year.

Pankaj Parekh, a veteran in the jewellery industry, said there are purity benchmarks for jewellery which are prevalent in many states and not falling under the three proposed standards.