Around 68 city-based jewellers have contributed Rs 1 lakh each towards the membership of the Mumbai's maiden Gold Club that launched the Gold Festival jointly with WGC.

The contribution of over Rs 1.50 crore from WGC and the jewellers will help the organisers of the Gold Festival to distribute 18.5 kg of gold (worth around Rs 80 lakh at Rs 4,280 per 10 gms of gold) as gifts to buyers of the gold during the tenure of the festival. There will be six weekly draws, the last of which will be the mega draw of 5 kg and will be held on March 3.

Speaking at the launch of the festival and the gold club Maharashtra government's cultural affairs minister Pramod Navalkar said: "Gold has been the best investment avenue for Indians." There are over 10,000 jewellery shops in Mumbai alone. However, membership to this select Gold Club has been only 86 members, majority of which did not seem to be much interested in the launch and remained absent from the inaugural ceremony.

Further, the overall gold business has been slack for over past six months. This has promoted both the WGC and the city-based jewellers to join hands to promote the sales of the yellow metal.

Nirmal Zaveri, partner of Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri, has been elected as the chairman of the Gold Club Mumbai.

Speaking to The Financial Express after the inaugural ceremony, Zaveri said: The main thrust of the festival is consumer. Our key objective is to promote Mumbai as a premier gold trading centre and major export base for gold jewellery."

WGC manager (western region) Dharmesh Sodha said: We are proud to be associated with the launch of both the festival and the gold club. Through this we hope the overall sales in gold and gold jewellery will improve. We intend to make the Gold Festival an annual affair, though like the one held in Dubai, but it will be slightly different in that it would be restricted only to consumers and tourists of Mumbai."

The Gold Club has been created to "channelise the collective wisdom, expertise and resources towards bringing about a qualitiative improvement in the industry. The members include bullion dealers, wholesalers, retailers, manufacturers and technical experts. The gold Club Mumbai is the first concerted effort towards making of a truly representative body for the Mumbai's gold industry.