India gold jewellery exports surge by 9.38%.

MUMBAI: The Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), India has released the annual export performance figures for the financial year 2009-2010.

The true resilience of the Indian industry was seen over the last year when the industry braved and continued with their consistent plans of building trading relations and penetrating newer markets. As a result, today India is undeniably USA's largest supplier of jewellery, with the US importing 25% of its jewellery from India. India's diamond share in the world market also witnessed an increase in this period in value terms, increasing from 60% to 70%.

Mr. Vasant Mehta, chairman, GJEPC, speaking at the conference said, "After having undergone challenging times in FY 2008-09, the Indian gems and jewellery industry rose like a phoenix and is today experiencing upward trend due to GJEPC's constant endeavor to sustain trade relations with the US and also expand our horizon by penetrating other markets".

"Time has come to establish India as a 'BRAND' to reckon with in the gem and jewellery sector. Indian gem and jewellery industry today enjoys a leadership position globally in manufacturing of diamonds, which is attributed to the in house expertise of manufacturing and cutting edge craftsmanship. The world is eyeing India today for trade across various sectors. Now is the time we can work towards truly making India the World's trading hub for gem and jewellery", Mr. Mehta added.

One of India's leading foreign exchange earning sectors over the year has witnessed a considerable growth in the volume of exports which were pegged at US$ 28 billion. From export figures of US$24495.58 million in the FY 2008-09, the exports have shown considerable increase and have registered at US$ 28,414.64 in FY 2009-10, thus indicating an increase of 16% in the total gem and jewellery exports. The performance of this industry is critical as it contributes 13% to India's total merchandise exports.

The growth in the sector was primarily driven by cut and polished diamonds which registered an increase of 20.11% in FY '10. The exports grew from US$ 14,605.27 million in 2008-09 to US$ 17,542.29 million in 2009-10. Cut and polished diamonds accounted for 61.74% of the total exports baskets with gold jewellery comprising of 31.17% while colour gemstones and other accounted for 5.09%.

Gold jewellery exports have also been on a rise with the figures accounting for a 9.38% increase in FY 2009-10, with exports increasing from US$ 8,616.43 million in 2008-09 to US$ 9,424.33 million in 2009-10. Colored gemstone exports also increased by 10.55% in dollar terms with sector witnessing a rise from US$ 259.29 million in 2008-09 to US$ 286.65 million in 2009-10.

"GJEPC, the apex trade body, took the leadership stance in the challenging times and launched a generic diamond promotion campaign under "ANANT" to drive diamond jewellery sales in India. This first of its kind initiative brought all in the diamond pipeline together be it retailer, miner or manufacturer, who joined hands to sustain the growth of diamond jewellery in India. The effort has been applauded by other manufacturing and mining centres in the world", added Mr. Mehta.

GJEPC will host IIJS Mumbai 2010 from the 19th to 23rd August 2010. This property over the years has established itself as one of the largest Jewellery show in Asia and is undeniably a breeding ground to foster relations with other markets across the world. Righty declared as the 'Made in India' Show by the government of India, IIJS 2010 promises business like never before.

GJEPC will continue with their marketing and promotion initiatives in the current year, some of them include, Buyer Seller Meets with China and European Nations, Indo-Euro Summit 2; Delegations to new markets such as Latin America, Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, East Africa to name a few.

While the Indian industry, due to sustained and consistent efforts even during the recessionary period, broke away from the throes of economic downturn which had crippled the industry, there are areas that the Council feels have tremendous scope for improvement. Thus expanding its role and taking on the onus of improving skill sets for the Industry, GJEPC helps in generating skilled work force through their institutes across the country like IIGJ, IDI and others.

Source :  Commodity Online