The Commerce Ministry on Tuesday announced the formation of a Domestic Council for Gems & Jewellery to bring the industry’s domestic business stakeholders under one umbrella so that they could evolve a unified approach to promote growth in the sector.
“This Council will help in tapping new opportunities in the already existing large domestic market,” Commerce & Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu said.
The share of jewellery in gem & jewellery exports is low and the council will look into increasing this share,” Mr. Prabhu said.
“We will shortly be announcing the Gold Policy and this Council will implement it. Apart from skill building the council will also ensure that quality jewellery is manufactured to gain the trust of customers,” the Minister said.
The basic objective of the government is make this unorganised sector organised and structured so that additional 3 million jobs can be created.
Among 100s of association of jewellers, 14 trade bodies from across India have been shortlisted and they form the ad-hoc committee.
Members of the national ad-hoc committee of the democratic council include All India Gems & Jewellery Domestic Council, Mumbai; Association of Gold Refineries and Mints, Cochin; Bangiya Swarna Shilpi Samiti,Kolkata; Bharat Diamond Bourse, Mumbaj; Bharatiya Swarnkar Sangh, Jaipur; GJEPC, Mumbai; Imitation Jewellery Manufactures Association, Mumabi; India Bullion and Jewellers Association, Mumbai; India Jewellers Forum, Amritsar; Karnataka Jewellers Federation, Bengaluru; Odisha Jewellers Association, Cuttack; Rajkot Gems & Jewellery Association, Rajkot; Tamil Nadu Jewellers Federation, Chennai and Uttar Pradesh Sarafa Association, Kanpur.
Speaking on the occassion Pramod Kumar Agrawal, Chairman GJEPC said, “The Domestic council has representation from all parts of the country and it is an association of associations. Two unions of artisans are also members of the domestic council. The ad-hoc committee having representation from all stakeholders will work together for the benefit of the business.”
The memorandum of association of council is expected to be formalised soon and it will be fully operational by May with elected representatives to run it.
Anantha Padmanaban, Chairman, All India Gems & Jewellery Domestic Council said, “Today is a very historic day for the Gems & Jewellery Industry as the formation of the Domestic Council was really the need of the hour and it is a very good move by the Union Ministry of Commerce & Industry.”
“The domestic gems & jewellery retail business is around ₹4 lakh crore as of 2018 and the domestic gems & jewellery sector is going through a challenging situation and all diverse constituents have to unite for a positive outcome for the betterment of the sector. The first priority of the Domestic Council should be to uplift the living standards of artisans. It is also imperative for industry to have one voice across all segment.”
