Basing it on history, gold will continue to rise: Indriya CEO Sandeep Kohli

Indriya CEO says geopolitical factors will continue to support gold prices, even as demand remains strong and consumers increasingly opt for old gold exchange

Gold prices, which have been moving south in the wake of the ongoing war in West Asia, will continue their upward trajectory, a top executive at Indriya, Aditya Birla Group’s jewellery brand, said on Wednesday.

 

Gold prices had a bull run in the last two years, rising over 150 per cent, but have crashed recently as the war in West Asia rages on.

 

“I’m basing it on history that I think they will keep rising,” Sandeep Kohli, chief executive officer (CEO), Indriya Jewellery, told Business Standard.

 

Amid such a rise in prices, as much as 40-45 per cent of jewellery being bought at the brand’s outposts is through old gold exchange.

 

“The prices of the commodity are decided by a host of factors, including geopolitical tensions in the world, but it is not a category that customers can exit,” he added.

 

The brand, which was launched with an investment of ₹5,000 crore in July 2022, has since expanded to 53 stores and will soon cross the 60-store milestone.

 

“We didn’t adopt a metro-first strategy and opened four stores consecutively in Delhi, Jaipur, and Indore when we launched. Very soon, we have travelled to all cities, including Mumbai and Bengaluru, and smaller ones such as Hisar, Gaya, and Guntur,” he further said, adding, “the demand for jewellery is omnipresent in India.”

 

The company, which is expanding rapidly, is seeing an “industry-beating repeat rate,” Kohli pointed out without divulging any numbers, adding that its stores are breaking even. 

 

“We believe the days of buying gold by weight and investments are gone and the new world is about buying jewellery by design, occasion, and emotion,” he added.

 

To cater to this growing trend, the brand has tied up with designer Amit Aggarwal to present at Lakme Fashion Week being held in Mumbai.