Jaipur: Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), the apex body of the gem & jewellery industry in India, kick started India Silver & Fashion Jewellery Buyer Seller Meet (BSM), in the pink city of Jaipur at Rajasthan from 12^th – 14^th June 2019.

The event was inaugurated by Mr. Pramod Kumar Agrawal, Chairman, GJEPC; Mr. Nirmal Bardiya, Regional Chairman, Silver Panel Convener Mr. Ram Babu Gupta along with International buyers and exhibitors from India.

Commenting at the inauguration, Mr. Pramod Kumar Agrawal said, “The BSM has been organised with an objective to meet current business needs of Silver Jewellery industry and to further establish and strengthen new business opportunities and promote business globally. The 3-day business matching programme will be an ideal opportunity to showcase India’s strength & capabilities in manufacturing Silver jewellery which is in demand due to its exclusivity and craftsmanship, whether its machine-made or hand made. Made in India Silver jewellery has gradually made a mark in international markets with remarkably good designs, bold use of diamonds and coloured gemstones thereby adding more value addition. I am sure buyers will get to see a range of innovative and trendy jewellery as per their needs and requirements”.

India’s gross exports of Silver Jewellery for the period April 2018 – March 2019 accounted for US$ 837.81 million.

The India Silver Jewellery BSM will be a mix of a Buyer Seller Meet (BSM) and an open meeting day between invited buyers and exhibitors. Over 20 Silver Jewellery manufacturing companies will be showcasing their manufacturing skills to 39 International buyers consisting of Silver Jewellery Wholesalers, Retailers, Traders & Chain stores from the targeted region viz., Algeria, Australia, Egypt, England, Ireland, Jordan, UAE, USA, Spain, Kuwait, Thailand, during the BSM meet.

At the same time, for buyers, this is an opportunity to understand the Indian Silver sector better for their sourcing needs, understand supply chain, business practices and culture. “I am sure both the buyers and sellers would make the most out of this platform to further establish and strengthen new sourcing relationships and promoting business globally”, added Agrawal.

The gem and jewellery sector is going through tough times and Agrawal expressed concerns impacting exports and overall growth of the sector.

GJEPC has been talking with the Govt. to address major Banking Issues affecting G&J industry including, increase in Cost of Funds, Need for Interest subvention, Dollarisation of Credit Limits, Allowance of release of BG/ Cash Margins of exporters after exports; Reintroduction of ECGC WTP policy for the sector, Gold Card and Taxation Issues.

Mr. Pramod Agrawal also presented yesterday the Pre-budget proposals of the industry to the Hon’ble Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman. Following are few of the points presented:

1. One of our burning issues of the industry is imposition of IGST on re-import of consignments which are exported through consignments/ exhibition mode. The industry is hopeful that the issue will be resolved soon.
2. Reduction in import duty on Cut and Polished Diamonds from 7.5% to 2.5%: Due to certain data anomaly in the import figures of cut and polished diamonds, duty on diamonds got increased from 2.5% to 5% and thereafter to 7%. The industry has been repeatedly representing that returned consignments of polished diamonds had constituted a major portion of the import figures which was erroneously captured and reported. 93% of the imported polished diamonds are exported back and are also procured in manufacturing and exporting studded jewellery from the country
3. Reduction in import duty on Precious Metal Gold from 10% to 4%: Industry for a long time has been making this request to reduce the import duty on gold to a realistic level. Duty reduction will definitely re-initiate the flow of raw material through official channels into the country thus strengthening our jewellery exports
4. Introduction of a realistic turnover taxation regime for Special Notified Zone in Mumbai: Special Notified Zone in Mumbai was inaugurated in December 2015and since then, the zone has been running successfully. The only major hurdle is that foreign mining companies, in the absence of favourable taxation regime, have not yet started selling rough diamonds. They still come, display and take their goods back to their country. The industry has been requesting that on the lines of the level playing field being offered by Belgium, Israel, UAE etc, Indian Government should introduce presumptive turnover linked tax rate (0.125%) on sale of rough diamonds at SNZ