Jewellery

HDFC Bank Tata Neu Infinity

5% back at Tanishq and Titan, the best jewellery rate here

₹1,499 + GST, waived on ₹3L a year

Tanishq is a Tata brand, so this card treats jewellery as partner spend rather than a category to be excluded. On a wedding purchase the difference against a card that pays nothing runs into tens of thousands.

The 5% only applies at Tata jewellery brands, so Kalyan, Malabar and Senco fall back to the ordinary rate. HDFC also does not publish a hard ceiling, only a partner fair usage policy, so the often quoted ₹18 lakh a year limit is not confirmed against an HDFC document.

HSBC Premier

3% at any jeweller, with no brand restriction at all

₹12,000 to join then ₹20,000 a year, waived outright for HSBC Qualified Premier customers

A lower rate but it pays wherever you shop, which matters because most jewellery buying in India is not at a Tata brand. For Kalyan, Malabar, Senco or a local jeweller this is the better card.

Shares the cumulative ₹1,00,000 a month capped category allowance with education and government, so a large single purchase will overrun it. Restricted to HSBC Qualified Premier customers in practice.