Soaring prices has hit Gujarat’s silver trade due to current price volatility

Silver prices jumped nearly 160% in 2025, disrupting payments, manufacturing and credit chains across Rajkot’s jewellery industry. Rajkot’s silver market is in panic despite soaring prices, driven by extreme volatility —up 160% in 2025 due to AI/EV demand and supply issues.This has disrupted the traditional payment system, halting production and sales, causing massive losses, insolvencies, and payment defaults across the supply chain. Traders shorting silver have further exacerbated the crisis.

Now, the price of silver is soaring. That should have been good news for Gujarat’s oldest and largest silver market. Instead, panic is brewing. The price of silver fluctuates around Rs 2.3 lakh per kilogram, marking a close to 30 per cent increase in less than a month.

Silver prices jumped nearly 160 per cent in 2025, fuelled by growing demand from AI-linked industries and the metal’s critical conductive role in electric vehicle batteries. The sharp rise in prices has affected the entire silver ecosystem in Rajkot, one of Asia’s largest hubs renowned for its intricate craftsmanship of silver bracelets, earrings and necklaces.

Manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers from Rajkot to Agra to Kolhapur, are reeling, with many delaying payments to suppliers further up the chain. The Gujarat Mirror reported that 44 trading firms have declared insolvency, with the crisis involving an estimated Rs 3,500 crore in settlement differences.