Bhubaneswar: Altogether eight jewellers in Odisha have been caught selling ornaments made of low quality gold to people.

This was revealed by Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare (FS&CW) Minister Krushna Chandra Patra in the Assembly today. The minister made this revelation while replying to a query of BJD MLA Prasanta Behera in the House.

In last three years, altogether eight jewellers in Odisha have been caught selling ornaments made of low quality gold, said the minister.

The jewellers belong to Sambalpur, Jagatsinghpur, Puri, Bargarh, Jharsuguda, Ganjam and Khurda districts of Odisha, he added.

Taking the issue seriously, the state government has cancelled the registrations of four jewellers and serve notices on three others for intitiating similar action against them. However, the case against one of the eight jewellers is sub-judice now, revealed the minister.

According to the minister, the state government has cancelled the registrations of Rajashree Jewellery at Kujang in Jagatsinghpur, Suna & Chandi Ghara at Grand Road in Puri, Radhakanta Jewellers at Barpali in Bargarh and Alankara Jewellers in Sambalpur.

Similarly, the government has served notices on Srikrushna Jeweller at Unit-3 in Bhubaneswar (Khurda), Pawan Alankar in Jharsuguda and Srinath Jewellers in Ganjam for cancellation of their registration. However, the case against Ambika Jewellers at Kuchinda in Sambalpur is sub-judice now.

The minister further revealed that the authorities concerned have penalized at least 14 jewellers in Odisha in last three years in connection with incorrect gold measurements.

The authorities have imposed penalties to the tune of Rs 23,500 on six jewellers in 2022-23 financial year. Similarly, six jewllers were penalized Rs 1.55 lakh in 2023-24 fiscal while authorities collected Rs 48,000 as penalty from four jewellery stores in 2024-25 financial year.