Now, a machine to dispense jewellery

Cash dispensing ATMs are routine.

Now, here comes a vending machine that will cough out gold and diamonds.

Branded jewellery manufacturer and retailer Gitanjali Group on Saturday launched a jewellery dispensing machine in Mumbai’s High Street Phoenix that works just like an ATM, offering instant gold and silver coins as well as bars, pendants with religious motifs, and diamond studded jewellery.

Customers can buy products starting from Rs1,000 and up to Rs30,000 using cash, debit cards and credit cards.

The machine will give the consumers a mix of up to 36 options in different sizes, price points and designs to choose from across these categories, which will be displayed on a touch screen.

Though the concept is a first in India, it is being tried by various companies in country like Germany, the UK, Dubai and recently in China and the US.

Will it work?

Gitanjali thinks it can manage sales of nearly Rs450-500 crore in next three years when it has 75 such machines functioning in major cities, Sanjeev Agarwal, chief executive officer, Gitanjali Exports Corporation Ltd, said.

“We can do a turnover of Rs6 crore per machine per year. It is not an experiment but something we are gung-ho about.”

The company plans to start these machines at high consumer footfall places like premium malls, airports, and shrines.

Agarwal said more players could follow suit to this model. The company is designing and building the machines in-house.

“The Indian jewellery market is reaching Rs235,000 crore in size this year. It is a huge market and the opportunity is huge,” he
said.