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Gold failed to glitter this Dussehra as sharply higher prices deterred many consumers, eroding sales by a quarter to 18 tonnes from last year, according to industry body India Bullion & Jewellers Association (IBJA).By value, sales of the yellow metal however climbed by 30-35% consequent to the prevailing high prices. The retail price of gold on Dussehra this year, which was celebrated on Thursday, was Rs 1.16 lakh per 10 gm, a 48% jump from Rs 78,000 per 10 gm on Dussehra 2024. Consumers need to pay goods and services tax (GST) of 3% in addition to the bullion price. A making charge of 15-30% is also levied by jewellers depending on the jewellery design.“Last year Dussehra was a better one as the volume of gold sold was 24 tonnes. This year, the prices have remained at `1.16 lakh per 10 gm on Dussehra, which has dented the demand,” said Surendra Mehta, national secretary of IBJA. 124297624Exchange of Old Gold Rampant“However, consumers have started buying gold as they feel that prices might not fall from this level any soon. Consumers are placing orders for the upcoming Dhanteras, Diwali and wedding season,” he said. Many Indians prefer to buy gold on Dussehra as it is believed that the precious metal brings good luck, success, and prosperity for the entire year. On Friday, gold was trading at Rs 1,16,883 per 10 gm at the retail end, excluding GST.Demand for gold and silver coins have picked up well this Dussehra as many are buying them as an investment tool. Jewellers said gold coins of 5 gm denomination are selling more while silver coins of 20 gm are flying off the shelves. “Investment demand for gold and silver bars remains robust, and customers are making purchases despite price movements. Bullion continues to do well, while bangles, necklaces, and diamond jewellery are showing encouraging momentum,’ said Saurabh Gadgil, managing director of Pune-based PNG Jewellers. He said bookings in lightweight jewellery are encouraging, while exchange of old gold is continuing to sustain demand, contributing nearly 50-55% of sales.The trend of exchanging old gold has accelerated across the country as high bullion prices are keeping consumers away from making fresh purchases. “They are keen to buy 5 or 7 gm of gold in addition to their old gold and get jewellery of their own design,” said Mehta, who is based in Mumbai’s Zaveri Bazaar, a major gold trading hub.Vikas Kataria, promoter of Madhya Pradesh-based jeweller D.P. Abhushan, however, noted encouraging demand across central India. “Wedding jewellery from diamonds to lightweight and polki designs is also performing well, setting a very positive tone for the festive season. Despite higher gold prices, sentiment remains strong,” he said.In South India, jewellers reported lower sales of gold during the ongoing festive season. Varghese Alukkas, MD of Jos Alukkas, said many consumers are resorting to buying gold bars to convert them into jewellery later for the upcoming wedding season. Gold exchange has also picked up. “Gold bars of 10 gm to 20 gm are selling more. We are also trying to push diamond jewellery in 18 karat, 14 karat and 9 karat, but customers are leaning more towards gold jewellery. Old gold exchange has gone up to 55-60% this Dussehra,” said Alukkas. Jos Alukkas has 63 stores spread over five states in South India.

Homegrown direct-to-consumer (D2C) beauty and personal care brands are continuing to attract investors despite the expanding footprint of global brands in the domestic market.The total funding raised by 20 leading D2C brands including Sugar Cosmetics, Innovist, Fae Beauty and Renee Cosmetics increased 7% from a year earlier to $63.1 million (about ₹560 crore) during January to September 2025, per data from business intelligence firm Tracxn. Notably, total funding raised by these brands so far this year marks a nearly threefold surge from $21.6 million in 2020."On an average, investing in the beauty category, given its high margins and capital efficiency, can return 10 to 25 times the investment. You can see that level of return with the investors behind Minimalist and Mamaearth," said Arjun Anand, managing director & head of Asia, Verlinvest, a Belgium-headquartered investment firm. "This is not the case with most other consumer categories. And this is being driven by consumption, premiumisation and democratisation," he said.124296720This year, RAS Luxury Skincare secured $5 million in funding led by Unilever Ventures while ayurvedic beauty brand Inde Wild, too, raised a similar amount in a seed extension round, again led by Unilever Ventures to support its US expansion through Sephora.In August, Renee Cosmetics raised $5.8 million in a Series C round from Playbook, Midas Partners and a few other investors. Foxtale raised $30 million in a Series C round from Panthera, Kose Corporation and a few others. Innovist, the parent of brands such as Bare Anatomy, Chemist At Play and Sunscoop, raised $16 million from ICICI Venture and Mirabilis Investment Trust.Neha Singh, co-founder at Tracxn said beauty brands in India are raising funds to accelerate growth, enhance product offerings and expand their market presence.India's beauty and personal care market, estimated at $24 billion in FY25, is expected to touch $40-45 billion by FY30. Industry executives say online contribution for the category climbed to nearly 17% in 2024 from 13% in 2023.Malini Adupureddy, founder and CEO, Deconstruct Skincare, said D2C brands are benefiting from the tailwinds of an ecommerce boom in tier-2 and -3 markets that is opening up a completely new consumer base.Swedish brand H&M recently entered the beauty segment in India while pop icon Rihanna launched her brand Fenty in partnership with Reliance-owned Tira. Multiple global brands such as MAC, Huda, Anastasia Beverly Hills, Smashbox and Charlotte Tilbury also entered this highly cluttered market.Korean brands like Innisfree, COSRX and Beauty of Joseon, too, are trying to win over Indian consumers though with premium pricing, thanks to the Hallyu wave and rise of Korean influence on OTT platforms, food and beauty. In contrast, the D2C Indian brands are playing the pricing game and riding on the quick commerce boom.Siddharth Sanghvi, head-business and finance, Renee Cosmetics, said established brands have a stronger hold on the offline market but the online market is dominated by new-age domestic brands.This lure of cracking online pushed Hindustan Unilever (HUL) to acquire 90.5% of Minimalist, a homegrown skin care brand, for ₹2,706 crore while Marico bought Beardo for nearly ₹400 crore and Emami acquired The Man Company.Sanghvi said any major investment firm's decision to invest hinges on a profitable exit option. "For these companies, the gap that the larger companies like the HULs or any other house of brands had was the lack of online presence, which is why we are seeing acquisitions of the new age brands," he said.Anand at Verlinvest said established companies such as HUL are premiumising, not by global but by Indian standards, and hence Minimalist can be part of that premiumisation process. "Earlier no one was supplying those premium products, and a plethora of startups are now doing exactly that, and in many niches being created," he said.

Eyewear retailer Lenskart has received an approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for its initial public offering (IPO), people briefed on the matter said. The company will now file its updated prospectus over the next few weeks and is targeting a listing for mid-November, one of the persons said. Lenskart had filed its draft red herring prospectus with Sebi in July, and is looking to raise Rs 2,150 crore in fresh capital from the issue.Besides the primary portion, shareholders including founders Peyush Bansal, Neha Bansal, Sumeet Kapahi and Amit Chaudhary, in addition to SoftBank, Premji Invest, Temasek, Kedaara Capital and Alpha Wave Global are selling a total of 132.3 million shares through the issue’s offer-for-sale component.Including secondary sales, the total IPO size is expected to be Rs 7,500-8,000 crore ($850-900 million), ET had reported earlier. This would make it one of the largest public offerings this year, following those of Tata Capital and LG Electronics.Kotak Mahindra, Morgan Stanley, Citi, Avendus Capital and Intensive Fiscal Services are merchant bankers for its IPO.The Gurugram-based company’s public offering is the biggest among a number of new-age company IPOs lined up for this year. Stockbroking firm Groww, ecommerce marketplace Meesho, payments firm PhonePe and edtech platform PhysicsWallah are also preparing sizable listings. Unlike Lenskart, they have opted for Sebi’s confidential filing process.Lenskart turned profitable in fiscal 2025, posting a net profit of Rs 297 crore against a net loss of Rs 10 crore in FY24. Its revenue increased 22% to Rs 6,625 crore from Rs 5,428 crore in the previous year.The company, which won Startup of the Year at the ET Startup Awards 2024, will use around Rs 272 crore of fresh capital from the issue for setting up new stores in India, while Rs 591 crore will be utilised towards meeting leasing, rental and other expenses of its existing 2,700-plus stores. The company has also earmarked an undisclosed portion of the proceeds for acquisitions.Also Read: ETtech explainer: Decoding Lenskart’s draft prospectus for Rs 8,000 crore IPO