This festival season, the mood among the country’s jewellers is muted. Bullion prices are higher than they’ve ever been. And jewellers’ margins? Thinner than they’ve ever beenThe Economic TimesGold jumps 56%, silver 69% but jewellery stocks tumble 36% in 2025. Where is the money flowing?. Amid the turmoil, the country’s top jeweller, Malabar Gold and Diamonds, is readying itself to go public.

In the six years to FY25, the Kerala-based jewellery chain’s sales have jumped five-fold to Rs 66,000 crore—outpacing Titan’s Tanishq and Kalyan Jewellers which saw slower growth of 3X and 2.8X, respectively. Gold, meanwhile, shot up 2.7X to $4,000 an ounce, per data from World Gold Council.

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So, it wasn’t a surprise when Malabar pipped Tanishq to become the number one player in India in 2021. But its slow and steady rise has hinged on a unique—and complex—expansion model.

Unlike competitors that expand through either franchises or full-fledged store rollouts, Malabar partners with local investors—often traders or businessmen. For instance, when it opened a store in Kollam, a quaint town in southern Kerala, the jeweller partnered with Ravi Pillai, the Dubai-based billionaire real-estate developer with roots in the city.