The falling price of gold has already begun to affect imports. Bombay Bullion Association president, “The imports of the yellow metal is likely to be 25 per cent less [in April] than the corresponding month last year as the gold prices are declining steadily. Usually, when the prices drop traders hold back in anticipation of further decline, while they buy when prices rise with the fear of additional increase in rates”.

And India’s investors, who have been stocking up on the precious metal for years, won’t see this price drop as anything but good news. “A lot of investors have gold in their portfolio but they have physical gold coins or jewellery”, Kishore Narne, head of commodities at Motilal Oswal, told beyondbrics. “So this [price drop] doesn’t really destroy their wealth as fast as it would a derivative instrument. The proportion of gold in their portfolio is typically less than 10 per cent and lots entered gold in the last three to four years, so their purchase price is still below trading prices.”

Indians’ love for gold is, indeed, a peculiar phenomenon where price isn’t necessarily important. M Sunderdas and Sons is a jeweller on Colaba Causeway in Mumbai. The quiet tinkle of wind chimes in one corner and the slow smoking of incense draw attention to just how empty the shop is.

Abishek Pherwani, 35, who works in the shop, told beyondbrics that demand for gold is currently at 20 per cent of its normal levels as customers only buy when markets are flat. But it doesn’t seem that this drop in prices is bad news for those that have bought the yellow metal in recent years. Quite the opposite. Pherwani says: “We aren’t getting calls for selling, only for buying as this is being seen as a good opportunity to get into the market.”

Time to start stocking up, it seems.