A growing number of Indian gold dealers expect the local price paid for gold which has been at a discount to the international spot price nearly all year to return to parity in the near term, sources said Thursday.

The discount paid by local dealers and traders has been reported as low as $10/oz this week, with some reporting single-digit discounts as demand starts to pick up in the run-up to the Indian wedding and festival season in the fourth quarter.

The discount was as high as $75-100/oz as recently as July when gold jumped to two-year highs above $1,375/oz and with demand in India typically low in the summer months.