Squeezed by government rules meant to curb a surge in gold imports, India’s bullion industry is shrinking, with banks and others opting to redeploy personnel for now but possibly facing big job cuts in coming months.
Refiners, jewellery manufacturers and retailers say they could start cutting jobs after Diwali, one of India’s biggest festivals, in the first week of November as festive demand will have sucked supply dry. Some have already begun to do so.
Gold on the local market is now fetching a record premium of $130 an ounce to the global bullion price and that is expected to climb even higher because of coming festivals.
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