India festival saw unexpected jump in gold sales-trade

* Sales on Dhanteras festival up 10-30 pct from benchmark

* Consumers chose gold coins over jewellery

* Historic data shows big price rise ups 2H gold imports

By Ruchira Singh

MUMBAI, Oct 21 (Reuters) - India's gold sales for the Dhanteras festival could have risen up to 30 percent from a benchmark, as consumers expecting the near-record prices to rise further bought freely.

The Dhanteras festival, celebrated last Thursday, is India's biggest gold-buying day and generally accounts for sales of 15-40 tonnes in the world's biggest market, according to various trade estimates.

This year sales may have risen by a few tonnes for the festival from this benchmark.

"Sales were fantastic. Compared to last year, it was 20-30 percent up," said Harmesh Arora, director of NIBR Bullion Pvt Ltd, a Mumbai-based refinery that manufactures coins and bars.

Arora, who is also the vice president of the Bombay Bullion Association, said consumers especially bought coins as they thought prices could rise more.