Mohit Bharatiya, the man known for introducing the country to gold lending rates and gold spot exchange, has stepped down from the presidentship of the India Bullion and Jewellers Association Ltd. (IBJA). Bharatiya’s seven year stint at the country’s apex jewellery and bullion body is being hailed by the industry as the era of globalization and modernization of Indian jewellery market.

The National Vice President of IBJA, Mr. Saurabh Gadgil has praised Bharatiya’s efforts in taking the association to the footsteps of jewelers across the country. “One of the best things to happen during the last seven years was the nationalization and unification of jewelers of the country under IBJA. The body reached out to and enrolled 7000 jewelers from across the country from a mere 300 members earlier, making us the biggest jewelry body in the world. This network today not just assists the jewelers with accreditation but also the government in regularizing gold rates and gold lending rates on a daily basis,” says Gadgil.

One of the biggest work under Mohit Bharatiya was the introduction of gold coin stores that today has reached over 80,000 customers. The introduction of ‘missed call’ service for current retail gold rates was a big hit that currently draws one lakh users every year. A B2B and B2C portals for gold coins is under development that will further enhance the reach to several million customers and jewellers across the country.

IBJA’s representation in the Ministry and RBI on gold-related matters has been a path breaking work of Bharatiya. “RBI’s acceptance of IBJA rates for lending against jewellery and similar approval by the Finance Ministry for sovereign gold bonds were perhaps game changers for the sector. It also cleared our way to be included into Niti Aayog consultations for the transformation of the gold market. Today, we are at BSE for spot exchange and we are also advisor to MCX and NSE for the same,” informs Bharatiya.

“There’s still a lot of work to do at domestic and global levels, but it was also time for some fresh thinking and fresher ideas. Which is why I did not contest for the post this year. In the new President, Mr Prithviraj Kothari, we have a visionary who is capable of taking the body forward,” added Bharatiya.

Prithviraj Kothari, the chairman of Riddhi Siddhi Bullions Limited (RSBL) and earlier National Vice President with Mohit Bharatiya, takes over as President at IBJA from July 1^st this year.