Chennai, Nov 13 : Fearing crowded jewellery stores during the Covid-19 pandemic period, large number of gold and silver buyers have avoided shopping for the precious metals, said a top official of Madras Jewelers and Diamond Merchants Association. However, he added that some well known customers have asked the outlets to set aside gold and bill it and make online payment. They would take delivery later. "Gold and silver sales on the Dhanteras day has gone up as compared to previous year's levels but not to the actual potential," Jayantilal Challani, President, Madras Jewelers and Diamond Merchants Association and a partner in Challani Jewelry Mart, told IANS. This is the trend across the jewellery showrooms here, Challani added. According to him, some regular customers have asked the shopkeepers to keep aside some gold coins and they can make the payment online while delivery will be taken later. "In normal days people come out. But today, fearing crowded jewellery showrooms they are not coming and the footfalls have come down," Challani said. According to him, during Dhanteras gold coins and silver are bought by people. As mentioned by him, many of the jewellery outlets are bereft of shoppers. On the other hand, readymade garment outlets saw people making last minute purchases for Diwali. Firecracker outlets too saw people buying fireworks for Diwali celebrations. Meanwhile a message on behalf of fireworks manufacturers going around on the social media points out to the last minute ban on fireworks by several state governments on the pretext of Covid-19, demands the governments should refund of shop licence fee paid by the retailers, goods and services tax (GST) paid by the manufacturers. /IANS