Delhi Diwali Trade: Traders Estimate ₹25,000 Crore as Gold Rates Soften

That figure is the Chamber of Trade and Industry’s estimate for business across the capital’s markets from Dhanteras through Bhai Dooj, and the same body wrote last week asking that a proposed November 1 rally at Ramlila Maidan be held after November 10 instead, warning that barricades and traffic diversions could put ₹10,000 crore of trade at risk. Those are the traders’ own estimates, made while arguing their case, but the geography behind them is real enough: more than twenty of the city’s great wholesale and retail markets sit within five kilometres of the Maidan, Chandni Chowk, Sadar Bazaar, Chawri Bazaar, Bhagirath Palace and Karol Bagh among them, and the traders say footfall starts building from the first of the month.

The anxiety makes sense after the month gold has had. The Hindu BusinessLine reported that gold in the national capital recovered ₹500 on Monday, November 2, to ₹1,42,500 per 10 grams, helped by jewellers and retailers buying ahead of Diwali after a sharp October sell-off that knocked ₹7,300 off the ₹1,49,300 per 10 grams recorded on September 30. Silver held steady at ₹1.86 lakh per kilogram on Monday, according to local traders cited by the paper, after shedding ₹46,000 from ₹2.32 lakh per kilogram in the same correction.

So the walk this week down Dariba Kalan, the old Street of the Incomparable Pearl, or through the bullion lanes of Kucha Mahajani pairs full festival crowds with a rate far below where it stood five weeks ago.

Buyer takeaway: Expect peak crowds in Chandni Chowk and Karol Bagh before Dhanteras on November 6, and check the day’s rate on our Delhi page before you set out.

Sources: The Hindu BusinessLine, 2 Nov 2026; News-Net (Hindi), 24 Oct 2026