Gold jewelers in India took to a restocking binge Friday after prices of the precious yellow metal fell due to a strengthened rupee.

The most-active February gold on the Multi Commodity Exchange as of 3:36 p.m. slid 0.32 per cent at 27,762 rupees per 10 grams as the rupee appreciated, outweighing gains in world prices.

Indian jewellers seized the opportunity to replenish supplies in anticipation of the upcoming Pongal festival.

"Demand was good in southern India, especially in Tamil Nadu, due to the Pongal festival," Chanda Venkatesh, managing director with CapsGold, a bullion merchant in Hyderabad, told Reuters News.

A popular Hindu harvest festival and national holiday, Pongal, is celebrated in mid-January.

"Demand will improve considerably in coming weeks due to wedding season," Venkatesh said.

The rupee plays an important role in regulating the landed cost of the dollar-quoted gold. On Thursday, it jumped to 52.85/52.86 to the dollar from 52.95/52.96 on Wednesday.

Gold imports by the world's biggest consumer of the precious metal dropped 56 per cent to 125 tonnes in the fourth quarter alone of 2011. It rendered full-year imports to likewise plummet by 8.4 percent, the Bombay Bullion Association said.

Year on year, India imported 878 tonnes of gold in 2011, compared from 958 tonnes in 2010.

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