The New Gold Rush

Big corporates vie with each other for a pie of India's burgeoning jewellery market, offering consumers authentic products and creative designs

- Sonal Khetarpal

West Delhi businessman Vinod Mitra, 68, and his family had for generations been loyal patrons of their jeweller on Bank Street in Karol Bagh. "You didn't just inherit the house; you inherited the jeweller too," he says. Next-gen, however, is thinking otherwise. Mitra's daughter-in-law Prerna looks beyond traditional, old-fashioned jewellery, one that she does not have to wear only at weddings, but also at work or social events. And fulfilling her desires are the big retail jewellery stores like Tanishq, Kalyan Jewellers, Reliance Jewels. And a brand new kid on the block-Indriya-launched by Novel Jewels, part of India's top business conglomerate Aditya Birla Group, this July.

Call it the new Gold Rush. India's leading corporate houses are eyeing the burgeoning Rs 6.4 lakh crore jewellery market. ABG's Indriya will be taking on Tata's Tanishq and Reliance Retail's Reliance Jewels, alongside jewellery retailers like Kalyan Jewellers, Malabar, Joyalukkas and Senco. "Entering the jewellery business is compelling due to the ongoing value migration from informal to formal sectors, the rising consumer preference for strong, trusted brands, and the ever-booming wedding market, all of which present substantial growth opportunities," Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman, Aditya Birla Group, said at the launch of Indriya in New Delhi. The group's move is backed by a significant investment of Rs 5,000 crore.