One pavan is 8 grams. Pavan, pavun and sovereign all name the same weight, and across Kerala and Tamil Nadu it is the unit gold is actually bought in — a bride's set is planned in pavan, a savings target is set in pavan, and a showroom will quote you a pavan rate before it quotes a gram rate.
Today, one pavan of 916 (22 carat) gold is ₹ 98,320 and one pavan of 24 carat is ₹ 107,258. Metal value only — making charges are separate.
Pavan price today, by quantity
| Pavan | Grams | 916 / 22K | 24K (999) | 18K (750) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ½ pavan | 4 g | ₹ 49,160 | ₹ 53,629 | ₹ 40,222 |
| 1 pavan | 8 g | ₹ 98,320 | ₹ 107,258 | ₹ 80,443 |
| 2 pavan | 16 g | ₹ 196,639 | ₹ 214,515 | ₹ 160,887 |
| 4 pavan | 32 g | ₹ 393,278 | ₹ 429,031 | ₹ 321,773 |
| 8 pavan | 64 g | ₹ 786,557 | ₹ 858,061 | ₹ 643,546 |
| 10 pavan | 80 g | ₹ 983,196 | ₹ 1,072,577 | ₹ 804,433 |
| 16 pavan | 128 g | ₹ 1,573,113 | ₹ 1,716,123 | ₹ 1,287,092 |
Pavan conversions
| Unit | In pavan | In grams |
|---|---|---|
| 1 pavan | 1.0000 | 8 g |
| 1 gram | 0.1250 | 1 g |
| 10 grams | 1.2500 | 10 g |
| 1 tola | 1.4580 | 11.6638 g |
| 1 troy ounce | 3.8879 | 31.1035 g |
| 100 grams | 12.5000 | 100 g |
| 1 kilogram | 125.0000 | 1000 g |
Pavan, sovereign, pavun — are they the same?
In Indian usage, yes. The three spellings all refer to the 8 gram unit and are used interchangeably in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and parts of Andhra Pradesh. A showroom in Kochi quoting "sovereign rate" and one in Coimbatore quoting "pavan rate" are quoting the same weight.
One thing that is not the same: the British gold sovereign coin. That coin weighs 7.98805 grams at 22 carat, containing roughly 7.32 grams of pure gold. It is close to a pavan but not equal to it, and the two should never be used interchangeably in a transaction.
How pavan pricing works in a showroom
Understanding the quote structure matters more here than in gram-quoting markets, because the pavan rate bundles a larger amount of metal and small percentage differences compound quickly.
- The pavan rate is the metal rate. It is the 916 gram rate multiplied by eight, nothing more. Any shop's pavan rate should reconcile exactly to their gram rate.
- Making charges are quoted separately, usually per gram. A "pavan rate" that already includes making is not comparable to one that does not — always ask which you are being given.
- Wastage may be added on top. Ask for it as a percentage of weight, in writing.
- GST applies to the total. Currently 3% on gold value plus making charges in India.
Why Kerala and Tamil Nadu buy in pavan
The unit is a survival of the sovereign coin standard from the colonial period, when gold savings were held in coin rather than in ornament. When the coin stopped circulating, the weight it represented stayed as the mental unit for measuring gold — the same way the tola outlived the rupee coin it was defined by in the north.
It persists because it is a genuinely useful size. Eight grams is roughly one substantial piece of jewellery, or one meaningful increment of savings. A family planning a wedding set thinks in whole pavan — four, eight, sixteen — in a way that would be awkward in grams and meaningless in ounces.
Pavan rate across major cities
| City | 1 pavan (916) | 1 pavan (24K) | Per gram (24K) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mumbai | ₹ 98,320 | ₹ 107,258 | ₹ 13,407.21 |
| Thane | ₹ 98,339 | ₹ 107,279 | ₹ 13,409.89 |
| Navi Mumbai | ₹ 98,349 | ₹ 107,290 | ₹ 13,411.23 |
| Kalyan | ₹ 98,359 | ₹ 107,301 | ₹ 13,412.57 |
| Ahmedabad | ₹ 98,369 | ₹ 107,311 | ₹ 13,413.91 |
| Surat | ₹ 98,379 | ₹ 107,322 | ₹ 13,415.25 |
| Rajkot | ₹ 98,379 | ₹ 107,322 | ₹ 13,415.25 |
| Vadodara | ₹ 98,388 | ₹ 107,333 | ₹ 13,416.59 |
| Jamnagar | ₹ 98,388 | ₹ 107,333 | ₹ 13,416.59 |
| Anand | ₹ 98,388 | ₹ 107,333 | ₹ 13,416.59 |
| Delhi | ₹ 98,398 | ₹ 107,343 | ₹ 13,417.94 |
| Noida | ₹ 98,408 | ₹ 107,354 | ₹ 13,419.28 |