27/08/2026
The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu recently said the “Thaimaman Thanga Mothiram” scheme will continue. Under this program, eligible newborns get a 1-gram, 22-carat gold ring.
Soon after, one number caught everyone’s eye:
₹0.01.
The headline suggested that a jeweller had agreed to give a gold ring for just one paisa.
But that’s not what actually happened.
The gold itself is priced separately. The ₹0.01 was the winning bid for the extra costs of making and delivering the ring.
But this leads to a more interesting business question:
How can a big jeweller offer ₹0.01 when the next bidder quoted ₹410.97?
There were 11 bidders in the tender.
* Joyalukkas: ₹0.01 (L1)
* GRT Jewellers — ₹410.97 (L2)
That’s a difference of ₹410.96 for each ring.
The scheme covers 4,41,667 one-gram rings, with an annual budget of ₹755.83 crore.
There’s another twist. Kalyan Jewellers got 30% of the order, even though GRT was L2.
So what’s really going on behind that ₹0.01 headline?
In this edition of Njord Insights, we look past the headline and explore the economics behind the tender.
Because the real story isn’t the ₹0.01. It’s the economics behind it.