MUMBAI: Fewer auspicious days later this year compelled Ramesh Phalke, an auto company employee in India's Maharashtra state, to hold his daughter's wedding in May. This bride was lucky because many other weddings will likely be postponed - to the dismay of the country's jewellers.
Gold is an essential part of the bride's dowry in India and also a popular gift from family and guests at weddings. In fact, the southern state of Kerala uses up to 400 grams of gold per wedding, or 80 tonnes each year - which is about 10% of the country's total consumption in 2014.
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