India's gems-jewellery export jumps by over 100% in seven months: Goyal

Piyush Goyal said with cities like Surat, which has the potential to become the jewellery manufacturing hub, the country can become the world's largest diamond trading hub in future. Writes Krishnanand Tripathi, ETV Bharat.

New Delhi: India's gems and jewellery export has more than doubled in the first seven months of the current financial year to over $23.6 billion as against the export of $11.7 billion during the same period last year, said commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal. He said with cities like Surat, which has the potential to become the jewellery manufacturing hub, the country can become the world's largest diamond trading hub in future.

Addressing Gems and Jewellery Manufacturing Show 2021, organised by the Surat Jewellery Manufacturing Association (SJMA), the minister said gems and jewellery sector was a priority area for the government to boost the country's export.

“We have established ourselves as the largest player in diamond cutting and polishing, we can become the largest international diamond trading hub,” he said.

Goyal said superior quality of Indian manufacturers enabled the country to penetrate markets such as Dubai-UAE, USA, Russia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Latin America.

The minister listed out the various measures taken by the government to promote investment in the sector such as revamped gold monetisation scheme, reduction in import duty of gold and mandatory hallmarking.

Talking about the need to strengthen the creativity of Indian artisans, Goyal said the country has the best artisan force for design and craft but there was a need for their systematic skill developments.

“We should make our products a benchmark of quality, to further expand in new markets and deepen presence in existing ones,” he told gems and jewellery industry representatives.

Goyal asked the industry representatives to develop patented designs to make jewellery manufacturing in the country more profitable, diversification of exports with focus on other products such as pearls, silver, platinum, synthetic stones, artificial diamonds, fashion jewellery, and non-gold jewellery, among others.

The minister also asked the industry representatives to increase their collaboration with other countries for cost-effective methods to enhance production of fusion jewellery.

He also asked them to promote lab-grown diamonds as they are more environmentally friendly and affordable, saying it will contribute to export growth and employment generation.

According to the minister, the gems and jewellery sector contributes to 7% of the country's GDP and employs over 50 lakh workers.

“People don’t just spend money when they buy gold and jewellery in our country but invest their life’s savings when they do so jewellers are the repositories of trust and faith of our people,” the minister said.