Orders for anklets decrease in Salem as silver bar prices go up

Silver anklet manufacturers in Salem district face reduced orders due to drastic increase in silver prices, impacting local economy.

Due to fluctuation in the silver prices, which increased drastically in the past 10 days, the orders for the silver anklets have reduced to 50%, claim silver anklet manufacturers.

Salem district is known for quality silver anklets manufacturing that provides jobs to over one lakh people in the district directly and indirectly. The silver anklets manufactured here are sent to Kerala, Puducherry, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan. Around 11,000 silver anklet manufacturing units are functioning in Salem Town, Shevapet, Fort, Maniyanoor, Nethimedu, Ponnammapet, Veeranam, Panankadu, Sivathapuram, Siddhar Kovil, Suramangalam, and Kondalampatti.

For Akshaya Tritiya that is celebrated on April 30 this year, orders from jewellery shops in Tamil Nadu and other States have reduced drastically due to the increase in silver bar prices.

Salem Silver Anklet Manufacturers Handicraft Welfare Association president C. Sree Anandharajan said that like the Deepavali and Pongal festivals, Akshaya Tritiya was celebrated in five southern states - Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Puducherry - on the same day. So the orders from these five states would usually be good. But this year, due to the fluctuation in silver prices, the orders had reduced by 50% compared with previous years.

Due to the unstable market prevailing in the United States, people were increasingly investing in silver. On April 5, one kg of silver bars sold for ₹91,000 in the wholesale market and ₹1.01 lakh in the retail market. But, on April 17, the price increased to ₹99,000 in the wholesale market and ₹1.10 lakh in the retail market. So people were not willing to give orders for silver anklets, considering the price would come down. So this year, silver anklet manufacturers in the district were affected and daily labourers did not get jobs for the Akshaya Tritiya festival, Mr. Anandharajan added.