Branded and designer jewellery would soon be easily available in Ranchi. A file picture

Ranchi, Dec. 28: The jewellery business in the state is all set to a major boost. While the news is good for customers, the jewellers might as well get ready to face some tough competition.

Realising that many of its customers are from Jharkhand, reputed jeweller PC Chandra of Calcutta is planning to come to Ranchi. Abhijit Dutta, a senior PC Chandra official, said they are looking for a 2,000-sf ft space at a prime location to open an outlet in the state capital.

“Many people from Jharkhand have been coming to our branches in Calcutta, Siliguri, Asansol and Malda. So we have decided to go to them with our products,” he said.

“We have a glorious past and have never cheated anyone. We are confident of doing very good business in Ranchi and in Jharkhand.”

The state capital has a large customer base in the state for jewellery but no reputed outlets selling branded jewellery. When PC Chandra opens in Ranchi, it will be the jeweller’s first foray into the Jharkhand market.

Jewellers in the state capital have started getting ready for the inevitable battle that is going to start with the arrival of the new player.

A Ranchi-based jeweller said on condition of anonymity that many shops would be affected by PC Chandra’s entry. “Only those who have managed to win the confidence of the customers will survive. The arrival of Chandra will also affect the branded jewellery stores. Branded jewellery cost most yet people like to purchase them because of the trust element. The jewellery sold in other shops might not be of good quality,” he said.

Branded jewellery shops are doing better than other jewellery shops “only because of the trust factor”, another jeweller stressed. “We have gained the confidence of people in the past several years we have been operating here. We have been selling only pure gold and that is how customers started trusting us. But there are many shops where 20 carat are sold on the claim that it is 22 carat,” he said, “unmindful” of the impending threat.

A director and some senior officials of PC Chandra recently visited Ranchi to look for a suitable space. The team has seen a few locations but was not satisfied, sources added.

The 67-year-old jewellery store has been on an expansion spree and plans to go national. It has 5 branches in Calcutta and one each in Siliguri, Malda, Burdwan, Asansol and Midnapore. It is also slated to open branches in Agartala, Behrampur, Murshidabad and also in Mumbai.