This year has seen the stock markets waver unpredictably, leaving many investors worried about their investments. But the falling stocks and rising inflation have given them a new hope: gold. As gold steadily rises in value, many in Gujarat are turning to gold trading.

Chirag Shah, a businessman, has lost millions in the stock market. In the last six months, inflation and falling stocks have forced the Shahs to tighten their household budget. After consulting experts, Shah decided to switch to trading in gold, which is priced at Rs 1310 a gram at present and not getting any cheaper. And he is bullish on it.

"The stock markets did not give any return, rather taking away my hard-earned money. But gold has been climbing steadily and showing all the reasons to be the best tool for investment," he says.

Vaibhav Shah, a director at Monarch Finmarket, also believes that gold can be a good investment to hedge against inflation. “We find that gold is still in the price bracket of buying and thus marking a good investment as lifestyle going to be more and more expensive in coming days,” he says.

The fever seems to be catching on in Gujarat, which gets 38 per cent of India's total gold imports. In Ahmedabad’s Ratan Pol area, known as the hub for gold trading, people are seen queuing up through the day to buy gold, be it as bars, coins or jewellery. Similar scenes can be also seen across gold retail chains in the city.

It’s not only the neighborhood gold dealer seeing a jump in business. Private banks are also making the most of the gold rush, especially those dealing in certified gold which is easy to sell off during a crisis.