National News
Rising gold prices to shave a tenth off organised retailers’ volumes
Revenues to still grow in double digits; credit profiles supported by higher operating margins
The continued rise in retail gold prices to an all-time high is expected to reduce the sales volume of organised gold jewellery retailers by 9-11% in fiscal 2026. However, with prices and realisations expected to be significantly higher on- year, revenues will still grow 13-15%.
This comes on the back of four straight years of more than 20% revenue growth, which has seen the industry grow 2.5 times since fiscal 2021. Volume, however, has remained subdued with consumers purchasing smaller quantities amid budget constraints due to higher prices.
An interplay of multiple factors is visible amid the continually rising gold prices. For one, as demand wanes, retailers are pushing sales through promotions and discounts amid increasing penetration in Tier 2 and 3 cities. The resultant increase in costs, however, will be more than covered by jewellery getting sold at prices higher than the purchase and making prices. Thus, operating profitability will rise 30-40 basis points (bps) on-year, driven by inventory gains.
The higher prices will also push up working capital borrowings for purchasing inventory for existing and planned stores. Nonetheless, leverage will remain under control and debt protection metrics healthy, supporting credit profiles.
A Crisil Ratings analysis of 60 gold jewellery retailers, which account for a third of the revenue of the organised jewellery sector, indicates as much.
In fiscal 2025, retailers took a 4-5% hit to volume as gold prices soared ~25% on-year (refer to Chart 1) amid geopolitical and economic concerns. As of mid-April 2025, gold prices are already ~20% higher than the average price in fiscal 2025. Thus, even if the prices move up only 4-5% from here, the average price will still be up 22-24% on-year for fiscal 2026.

Says Himank Sharma, Director, Crisil Ratings, “The recent jump in prices came just before the start of the festive and marriage seasons in the first half of April 2025, limiting the impact on demand thus far. However, as ticket sizes for buyers are likely to remain constant, caratage and grammage may reduce, as seen in the last four fiscals, impacting volumes. The demand, though lower, remains supported by duty cuts on gold imports announced last year.”
As such the implementation of Goods and Services Tax and Bureau of Indian Standards hallmark continue to push customers towards organised retailers, supporting revenue growth. Higher realisations will push another year of double- digit revenue growth for organised retailers, resulting in revenues of Rs.4.5-5.0 lakh crore for the industry.
Says Gaurav Arora, Associate Director, Crisil Ratings, “Despite the increasing debt, the capital structure of gold jewellery retailers will remain comfortable. Improved revenues and operating profitability will absorb the impact on debt protection metrics as well with median interest coverage seen healthy, over 6 times in fiscal 2026.”

The higher prices will have a two-way impact on retailers. One, with jewellery sold at prices higher than the purchase prices, resulting in an inventory gain of 20-30 bps, we expect the operating margin to break the declining trend of the last two fiscals and inch closer to the seven-year average of 7.8-8.0% in fiscal 2026 (refer to Chart 2). Two, the debt of gold jewellery retailers rated by Crisil Ratings will rise as the cost of inventory replenishment as well as new store inventory rises with higher prices, although higher revenue and profitability will provide cash flow towards store expansion.
That said, any sharp volatility in gold prices, changes in government regulations and import duties on gold, and consumer sentiment will bear watching.

National News
Senco Gold & Diamonds Partners With Olocker to Give Customers Free Jewellery Insurance, Letting Precious Memories Be Worn, Not Hidden Away
A Customer-First Initiative Designed to Help People Wear Their Precious Memories with Confidence.
Senco Gold & Diamonds, one of India’s most trusted jewellery houses, has partnered with Olocker, India’s first dedicated jewellery insurance platform, to offer free jewellery insurance to its customers, protecting purchases against risks such as snatching, robbery, and housebreaking.
On the surface, it’s a simple value-add: buy jewellery from Senco, get it insured, at no extra cost. But the thinking behind it is more personal — the freedom to actually live with the things you love.
There is a quiet ritual that plays out in homes across India every wedding season, every anniversary. A piece of jewellery is bought with love, worn once or twice with pride — and then, almost apologetically, tucked away in a bank locker for “safekeeping.” The very thing meant to be cherished ends up spending most of its life in the dark.
A Locker Is No Place for a Memory
Ask any family that owns fine jewellery, and you’ll hear the same quiet anxiety: the fear of stepping out wearing something precious, the fear of a break-in while the house is empty. For many, the solution has always been the same — lock it away, take it out only for weddings and festivals, and let it sit untouched the rest of the year.
It’s a practical response to a real risk, but it also means jewellery bought to mark a marriage or a milestone ends up being seen far less than it deserves.
This is the exact problem Senco Gold & Diamonds’ Managing Director, Suvankar Sen,

has spoken about wanting to solve. Known for a customer-first philosophy that goes beyond transactions, Sen has often said jewellery should be something people live with, not something they merely own. “Jewellery is never just metal and stone,” Sen said, explaining the thinking behind the Olocker partnership. “It’s a wedding day, a mother’s blessing, a promise kept. When customers can’t step out wearing it, or can’t leave home without worrying about a break-in, something is broken in that experience. We wanted to fix that.”
That sentiment is the quiet engine behind this initiative. Rather than simply selling jewellery and stepping back, Senco has chosen to walk the extra mile — ensuring that once a customer takes a piece home, they can wear it freely and pass it down through generations, without the constant undercurrent of worry.
What the Partnership Actually Offers
Through this collaboration, Senco customers receive free jewellery insurance via Olocker on qualifying purchases, protecting against snatching, robbery, and housebreaking.
Olocker, India’s first digital platform dedicated to jewellery insurance and asset tracking, brings the technical and insurance backbone — while Senco brings its decades of trust, built since 1938, to make sure customers actually use it.
For a family that has just bought a piece for a wedding, this means peace of mind — wearing that necklace to a dinner without the nagging thought of “what if someone snatches it,” or “what if someone breaks in while we’re away.”
A Partnership Built on Shared Intent
The excitement isn’t one-sided. At Olocker, the partnership is seen as validation of the idea the platform was built on — that jewellery insurance should be a natural, everyday companion to ownership, not a niche afterthought.
“This is genuinely one of the most exciting collaborations we’ve been part of,” said Milind Shethia, Founder & Chief Marketing Officer at Olocker. “Our mission has been to help people wear their jewellery instead of locking it away, and partnering with a name as trusted as Senco brings that mission to millions of customers at once.
What’s heartening is Mr. Sen’s own approach — he didn’t look at it as a marketing tie-up, but as giving something back to people who’ve trusted Senco for generations. That kind of intent is rare, and it’s exactly the spirit we built Olocker around.”
That mutual sense of purpose is what gives this partnership its quiet credibility. It isn’t a scheme or a promotional hook, but two organisations agreeing on a simple, shared belief: jewellery should be lived in, not locked up.
A Bigger Idea About Ownership
There is a broader philosophy at play, one Suvankar Sen has championed throughout his tenure at Senco — that jewellery is an emotional asset as much as a financial one, and customers shouldn’t have to choose between enjoying it and protecting it.
This partnership feels less like a marketing initiative and more like a promise kept, reflecting a leadership style that measures success in something harder to quantify — how cared for a customer feels long after leaving the showroom.
As jewellery increasingly doubles as adornment and investment, initiatives like this one may well set a new benchmark for customer care in the industry.
Senco, through its partnership with Olocker, isn’t just insuring jewellery against snatching or a break-in — it’s giving people back the freedom to wear their memories, out loud, without fear.
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