Dalal Street is experiencing a glittering gold rush as India’s $85 billion (₹7.3 lakh crore) jewellery market — long dominated by family-run shops — is formalising at breakneck speed. Driven by skyrocketing bullion prices and a consumer shift toward trusted brands, a staggering 12 mainboard and nine SME jewellery players have gone public since FY24 to fund ambitious expansion plans.

The sector is expected to balloon to $130 billion by 2030, yet the IPO frenzy unfolds at a precarious crossroads. While record-high gold prices are artificially inflating revenues, actual physical demand is shrinking. As Prithviraj Kothari, Managing Director at RiddiSiddhi Bullions and President of the India Bullion and Jewellers Association Ltd (IBJA), points out, steep gold prices are hurting jewellery sales volume, even as sales value keeps rising.

According to VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments, the rising gold price and the formalisation of the hitherto unorganised industry are the primary factors behind the IPO rush.

The enthusiastic response to the earlier public offers is also spurring more players to join in, he adds. But the surge in listings at a time of weakened jewellery buying raises questions. Will the headline revenue growth alone translate into sustainable expansion and long-term shareholder returns?

CA Surendra Mehta, National Secretary, IBJA, explains how the lack of formalisation had impacted the industry in the past.

“Even banks were not giving industry status to jewellers. Now jewellers are becoming organised and compliant, and they are eligible to go for IPOs,” he says.

Rising gold and silver prices have necessitated more capital to run and expand jewellery businesses, he adds.

Additionally, jewellers are setting up their own manufacturing facilities instead of relying on small job workers.

GST accelerated compliance, according to Mehta, as jewellers recognised the need to record transactions and operate within the formal economy.

The growing jewellery market forms the backdrop for the rush of listings, says Nitant Darekar, research analyst at Bonanza, even as he cautions that the growth reflects price appreciation rather than sales.

That creates a key challenge for newly listed jewellery companies, he adds.

Data from independent research body Patterns shows that gold jewellery purchases fell to a 22-quarter low in Q1 2026.

The issue gained a macroeconomic dimension recently when Prime Minister Narendra Modi reiterated his appeal to Indians to avoid buying gold unless necessary and to avoid travelling abroad to conserve foreign exchange. The worry is over the impact of elevated gold imports on India’s foreign exchange position, even as jewellery becomes less affordable at home.

Buyers are increasingly opting for lighter jewellery, lower-carat gold, or studded and diamond jewellery with lower gold content, says Kothari, on the mismatch between the value and volume of jewellery sales.

Wedding-related purchases continue to provide support, but discretionary and investment-driven demand has slowed, he adds.

Says Aarav Bafna, Director at Akoirah by Augmont, a laboratory-grown diamond jewellery brand, “The current market is best characterised as volume-sensitive but value-resilient, with demand becoming more selective rather than weakening uniformly.”

Weddings, festivals and personal milestones continue to drive demand, while exchange and upgrade purchases are gaining traction, he says.

With the rising gold prices, more capital is needed to maintain inventories.

“Larger, organised players with strong balance sheets and brand pull can likely sustain store expansion, since they’re better placed to absorb working capital pressure and pass on price hikes without losing customers entirely,” Kothari says.

Smaller and regional companies may have it more difficult. “Expansion will likely continue, but selectively, with organised retailers gaining market share from unorganised competitors, who simply can’t absorb the cost pressure as easily,” Kothari says.

Bafna says the next phase of growth would call for more disciplined capital deployment.

“The success of expansion will depend less on adding stores and more on choosing the right markets, managing inventory efficiently and building a product mix suited to changing consumer preferences,” he says.

Of the 21 jewellery IPOs since FY24, the stocks of eight — BlueStone Jewellery, PNGS Reva Diamond, Shringar House of Mangalsutra, Priority Jewels, AJC Jewel Manufacturers, Utssav CZ Gold Jewels, Shanti Gold International, and Grover Jewells — were trading with significant gains from debut levels as of September 10. Recently listed Lalithaa Jewellery Mart also traded with modest gains.

Others have given up substantial listing gains, indicating their inability to deliver sustained growth.

Going forward, investors should focus more closely on sustainable volume growth, same-store sales growth, inventory efficiency, margin expansion and brand strength, rather than headline revenue growth alone.

HSBC’s brokerage arm has stated that the key framework for evaluating companies in the expanding listed jewellery universe should be growth, execution and return on capital employed (RoCE).

It noted that jewellery businesses need a huge working capital, so rapid growth can weaken operating cash flows. HSBC’s framework also considers store expansion and industry trends, leverage, performance stability, promoter background and track record.

Beyond the listings, Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri’s acquisition by GRT Jewellers offers a clear trend. (TBZ shares zoomed nearly 94 per cent to a 52-week high on September 9, before declining in the last two sessions.)

The deal suggests that consolidation could prove another route to scale, alongside IPOs and store expansion.

Published on September 14, 2026