Silver has witnessed a 30 per cent increase in investment demand this Navratri-Dussehra in comparison with last year. Price of silver, which has remained stagnant for more than two years, started moving upward in tandem with gold since July, drawing a wider set of investors from rural India.

Silver is trading around ?45,500 a kilogram, but is still about 80 times cheaper than gold and far more affordable as an investment or token bullion purchase in rural India, said Nitin Khandelwal, an Akolabased jeweller.

The current gold to silver ratio, which stands at 85, is expected to give a further push to silver prices in the coming weeks. The ratio measures how many ounces of silver it takes to buy an ounce of gold.

Internationally, gold price is hovering around $1,496.79 per troy ounce, while silver is trading at $17.57 per troy ounce. Rahul Mehta, MD of Silver Emporium, said: “Investment demand in the Navratri-Dussehra period has been higher by 30 per cent compared with last year. Demand is coming from urban as well as rural India. While appreciation in price is one of the reasons for this interest, affordability, too, is driving investors. Also, analysts are upbeat about further appreciation in silver prices going ahead.”