Chennai: You find it inside automobile catalytic converters. And then you find it adorning the necks, ears, fingers of the really rich as opposed to the merely rich.

In both cases it cleans up - the fumes that come out of the exhaust in the first case and the wallet in the second - in India it costs anything between Rs2,000-2,500 per gram. While the price may make your heart skip a beat, it is used in life saving devices like pacemakers.

Of course we are talking about platinum - the most precious, costly and the rarest metal in the world.

Interestingly, the demand for platinum jewellery is on the rise in India. From 12 jewellers in 2000, today there are around 350 jewellers in the country who vend platinum jewellery says Vaishali Banerjee, manager-India, Platinum Guild India Pvt Ltd. And this tribe is increasing.

According to her, when Platinum Guild was launched six years ago, the metal was largely new to the jewellers. "We had to educate the retailer about the metal." But today the demand for this white metal jewellery is increasing.

What is more interesting to note is the demand for platinum jewellery is high in Chennai. This is contrary to the belief that the dark South Indian skin does not suit the white metal. According to G R Ananthapadmanabhan, managing director, G R Thanga Maligai, Chennai is the largest market for platinum jewellery.

However Banerjee is not able to give any precise figures on the volume or value of platinum jewellery sold in the country. Nor is she able to tell the quantity of the metal being imported into India. "The jewellery trade in India is not willing to share any numbers nor do the customs have a comprehensive record," she reasons.

According to a report by KPMG for India Brand Equity Fund (IBEF), India's share in the global platinum jewellery trade is increasing by 19 per cent. However, in terms of total share, India consumes less than one per cent of the world's consumption.

Promoted by the platinum manufacturers based in South Africa, the Platinum Guild is here to popularise the white metal amongst the jewellery industry as well as the people. Says Banerjee, "Apart from consumer education, we do direct marketing, advertising and trade promotion."

With the festive season around the corner - for the first time in several years, Indians will have around 25 festivals in a span of 45 to celebrate days, the Platinum Guild is planning to promote the metal in a big way.

The guild promotes platinum on its own and also shares part of the jewellers' advertisement spends. "When we started it was just the guild which spent on the advertisement. With demand for platinum jewellery increasing the trade is also ready to spend," she adds.

The guild uses print and outdoor medium for promotion. "We are focussing only on five cities. When the demand grows we will look at television commercials."

In Chennai, the guild is now partnering with G R Thanga Maligai which has launched a bridal collection in platinum. As per the deal, the jeweller will share 60 per cent of the media campaign and the balance will be funded by Platinum Guild. "But the ad spend sharing ratio differs from jeweller to jeweller," says Banerjee.