New Delhi: Jewellery lovers in India will have to shell out more for the gold and diamond jewellery as the budget has imposed 1% excise duty, which comes as a blow to the gems and jewellery sector which was hoping for a cut in import duty on gold from 10% to 2%.

The India Bullion & Jewellery Association (IBJA) fears that the introduction of the excise duty will lead to job loss in the gem and jewellery sector.

The domestic imitation jewellery sector has received an impetus as the basic customs duty on imported imitation jewellery from 10 to 15%. The size of imitation jewellery is around Rs 12,000 crore and it is growing at a rate of 25 per cent -30% annually. China and Korea have already captured 30% of the Indian imitation jewellery market.

Finance Minister Mr. Arun Jaitley has proposed to levy 1% excise duty on jewellery without input credit or 12.5% excise with input credit. IBJA said that levying of excise duty on jewellery industry will create more trouble for this industry which is already starving. There are about 1 crore artisans working in the industry and most of them are likely to become jobless, the association feels.