India, Oct. 19 -- Best wishes to everyone on the joyous occasion of Diwali. There's something unique this time about the festival. On October 18, both the metals reported record prices in the Delhi market: Gold (24 carat) traded at a whopping Rs.1,31,800 per 10 gm while silver was available at Rs.1,70,000 per kg. The unprecedented surge saw jewellers struggling to meet the demand. They could provide gold and silver jewellery and coins only to those who had pre-booked their orders.

In the absence of gold and silver, the common person was content buying brass and steel utensils to fulfil their festival desires. The government made a substantial cut in GST rates a month earlier, but since utensils weren't a part of it, people couldn't accru...