Silverware sales by MMTC rise

'Vizag Thali', a specially designed silver thali plate with gold encrusted flower design, is now adding the MMTC's silver ware sales turnover. State-owned MMTC have been marketing silver ware in the name of Sanchi brand in all metros and in Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada.

Recently MMTC Vizag's office designers have designed one thali plate and coined the name Vizag thali silver plate. MMTC is now selling these Vizag thali plates in metros like Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai under the same name in a large scale. More and more people are preferring to buy these plates, B S Suryaprakash, the deputy general manager of , MMTI Limited, told Business Standard.

"Particularly gold-coated flower design in the middle of Vizag thali silver plate is attracting the customers so much that our silverware sales increased in the first half of this current financial year," he said.

According to him, during the last fiscal, MMTC Vizag's office had sold only 22 lakhs worth of 104 kgs Sanchi silver ware; but during this fiscal in the first half itself they could sell more than Rs 50 lakhs worth of 380 kg Sanchi ware.

"Our silver ware purity is 92.5 per cent, where as in the case of jewellry shops we can get only 60 to 75 per cent pure silver ware. This is also one of the major reasons contributing to increase in our Sanchi silver ware sales," he added. On the other hand the gold sales of MMTC Vizag's office drastically reduced during this fiscal.

Last fiscal this office was sold Rs 100 crores worth 1878 kgs gold; but during this year in the first-half, they sold only Rs 22 crores worth gold. In the current year gold prices had been frequently rising. This is one of the reasons for the fall in gold sales, Suryaprakash said.