MUMBAI:

However, weary of prolonged losses, several shops allowed backdoor entry to customers.

have been on rotational

since 38 days.

TOI

called around 15 goldsmiths posing as a customer and found most were amenable to doing business. “Our shutters are partly closed, but when you arrive we will let you in,” was the common refrain.

The pressure was palpable. Jewellers in Vasai, Nalasopara and Virar forcibly closed shops. The Bandra Vyapari Association prompted goldsmiths along Bazar Road to go on “strike”. Still, some functioned at half-shutter, claiming they were open only for puja.

The festival bared the fissures that exist within the trade. The India Bullion and Jewellers Association, which is affiliated to the BJP, has termed the strike an attempt to mislead people. “Finance minister Arun Jaitley has categorically said there will be no rollback, and no harassment either. So, what is the need to strike work,” said a senior representative.

Large chains in Bandra, Andheri and Dadar went about their business, though. Satish Karekar, manager of Waman Hari Pethe Saraf in Dadar, said, “We believe the strike will only harm the trade. This

, business is barely 20% of the previous year.”

A Nalasopara goldsmith said, “We will have to open our shops within a few days as the wedding season comes up.”

Praveenshankar Pandya, chairman of the Gems & Jewellery Export Promotion Council, declined to speculate on Friday’s turnover or loss. “Large parts of Maharashtra, Gujarat and north India were closed. But I feel we should negotiate with the authorities than go on strike.”

Gudi Padwa, one of the mahurats for the sale of gold jewellery, failed to cheer buyers and sellers. Sales volumes on Friday were barely a fraction of last year’s festival, and not for lack of demand. Jewellers’ associations in Zaveri Bazar, Dadar, Bandra and Vasai-Virar exerted pressure on goldsmiths to down shutters in protest against the 1% excise imposed by the Centre in the Budget 2016-17.