What are the challenges you face in a market that is inclined more towards gold?

Coming from a time where consumers had no idea or knowledge about platinum, I believe we have come a long way. Back when PGI was launched in India, there were only two metals that existed for jewellery – gold and silver. Gold was set as the benchmark of preciousness. In fact, in the early days, consumers hadn’t even seen platinum jewellery. Platinum was not a part of our stories, history or mythology. We did not even have a vocabulary for platinum in our local languages, unlike gold, silver, or other precious stones. From there, to now having our core consumers identifying with platinum and for platinum to be synonymous with love and moments of emotional significance is personally very gratifying. From an industry perspective, the partnerships we have, have led to platinum becoming an integral and strategic part of this ecosystem. Today, platinum is present as a category across 1500+ stores and 300+ cities, with growth up to 10 times in the last decade. It feels truly rewarding to look back on these milestones. In the current context, the favourable pricing of platinum provides an incredible opportunity for the growth of platinum jewellery.

How has the platinum jewellery bounced back during the pandemic as we begin to move towards recovery?

Looking back at 2020, the market started opening up in stages, particularly after September. While the Covid-19 situation had impacted buying patterns of consumers all over the world, the unlock phases were instrumental in ushering demand for jewellery, particularly for platinum. From July 2020 onwards, we had seen demand slowly rebuilding especially from tier II cities and smaller towns, which were less affected by the pandemic. In October 2020, we launched a consumer and retail activation programme to bolster demand for platinum jewellery. The results have been very positive with all participating retailers posting a 29% growth during the activity period versus the same period in 2019. From a consumer behaviour point of view, individuals were looking at ways to claim back a sense of normalcy and a means to celebrate those everyday moments that became all the more important given the gloom that had accompanied those dreaded initial months of the lockdown. Jewellery served as an instant pick-up and platinum, in particular, stood out as the metal is all about love, meaning and reaffirmation. In India, jewellery plays an integral role where it tends to have a store of value and serves as a marker of social and personal milestones in life. With many consumers re-evaluating their priorities in life and gaining a renewed appreciation for loved ones, spending on products that represent personal meaning is a key expression of their feelings for family and friends, thus creating an opportunity for platinum. In the recent Union Budget, it was heartening to see that the import duty on platinum has been reduced to 10%, which is a welcome decision made by the Government. This will boost consumer sentiment and, in turn, demand, benefiting both the industry and the consumers as the market recovers in 2021. We look forward to a year of a strong recovery.