Gold imports by India are said to have jumped almost seven-fold in March from a year earlier as jewelers stocked up anticipating a demand recovery during the wedding season that began this month and the auspicious Hindu gold-buying day of Akshaya Tritiya.

Shipments advanced 582.5 percent to 120.8 metric tons last month from a year earlier, according to a person familiar with provisional data from the finance ministry, who asked not to be identified as the data aren’t public.