NEW DELHI: A dip in gold prices drew shoppers to jewellery stores on Dhanteras on Friday. Carmakers lined up thousands of festive deliveries, while televisions led demand at an electronics retailer.Senco Gold & Diamonds reported sales growth of more than 25% by value, with footfall up 10-12% from last year, CEO Suvankar Sen said.Kalyan Jewellers said its price for 22-carat gold fell Rs 235 a gram from Thursday to Rs 13,150 on Friday. Executive director Ramesh Kalyanaraman said footfall picked up, with shoppers favouring lighter pendants, bangles and chains, as well as smaller gold and silver coins. The chain saw more first-time buyers in cities such as Jaipur, Dehradun and Raipur.“The dip in gold prices helped to boost demand, as many buyers who were waiting for a correction stepped in,” said Paul Alukkas, managing director of Jos Alukkas.In Delhi’s Madangir jewellery market, Ramavtar Soni, director of Prabhu Dayal & Sons Jewellers, said demand for gold and silver coins has risen, with shoppers buying them as symbols of prosperity on Dhanteras. Rama Krishna Jewellers added that the recent price dip had encouraged purchases and that shoppers continued to see gold as a store of value.Giva founder and CEO Ishendra Agarwal said 9-carat jewellery, introduced four months ago, accounted for about a quarter of revenue for its gold and lab-grown diamond business.“Buying patterns are evolving, with consumers increasingly gravitating towards lightweight, versatile designs that offer value without compromising on aesthetics or aspiration,” said Kirit Bhansali, chairman, Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC).Amazon India said the number of first-time jewellery shoppers rose more than 20% from the comparable festive period last year, with growth exceeding 40% in smaller cities. Flipkart Minutes said orders for gold coins and bars more than doubled in the run-up to Dhanteras. Quick commerce accounted for 80% of Bigbasket’s coin orders, with one-gram gold coins the most popular.Auto companies also enjoyed strong demand. “We are expecting to deliver around 30,000 vehicles on Dhanteras this year,” said Partho Banerjee, senior executive officer for marketing and sales at Maruti Suzuki India. The estimate is lower than the 41,000 deliveries Maruti reported in 2025 as Dhanteras was spread over two days. This festival season — from Ganesh Chaturthi in Sept to Nov 6 — the country’s largest carmaker has sold 4 lakh vehicles compared with a little under 3.5 lakh last year.Hyundai Motor India’s estimate covered both Dhanteras and Diwali. “We expect to deliver around 16,000 units, nearly 14% higher than last year,” said MD and CEO Tarun Garg.“Dhanteras saw an outstanding response, with single-day deliveries expected to cross 12,000 vehicles,” said Amit Kamat, chief commercial officer at Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles.Mahindra & Mahindra said it was operating at full capacity, with physical dealer stocks close to zero across most of its SUV range. Rajesh Jejurikar, executive director and CEO of its auto and farm sector, said the company was sticking to its outlook of mid-to-high-teen SUV growth in FY27.