Gold Making Charges in India 2026: A Straight Breakdown

Making charges are the single biggest hidden cost in Indian gold. Here is the model explained without jeweler marketing.

Two common models:

• Per-gram flat, ₹400–900 per gram for plain jewelry, ₹1,000–3,500 per gram for designer. Transparent.
• Percentage of gold value, 6–28% of the gold cost. Moves up when gold price moves up. Most common in chain stores.

Wastage charges (separate line): 0–10% of the gold weight, meant to compensate for gold "lost" during manufacturing. In modern CNC-cut jewelry, actual wastage is under 1%. Anything above 2% in 2026 is effectively additional margin.

Fair ranges in 2026:

• Gold coin (0.5g – 100g, 24K): 0.5–3% making
• Plain 22K chain, bangle, ring: 4–8% making, 0–1% wastage
• Plain 22K earrings, pendant: 6–10% making
• Antique / temple / nakshi / kundan / polki: 12–28% making, up to 10% wastage
• Platinum rhodium or diamond-set: add 20–40%

Why this matters on Akshaya Tritiya On a ₹1,00,000 purchase, the difference between 6% and 18% making is ₹12,000, gone the moment you leave the store. If you are confident the purchase is 50% ritual and 50% investment, split: ₹50K into a 24K coin (1% making) and ₹50K into a plain hallmarked chain (6–8% making). You get the wearable plus preserved capital.

Always ask for:

1. Making charge in rupees, not percentage, lock it to actual gold price that day
2. Wastage as a separate line
3. GST calculated on gold + making + wastage, not invented base
4. Buyback policy, what percent of making is refunded at resale (almost always 0%, but ask)

The planner on this site lets you plug in any making charge percentage to see real impact on your grams.