The All India Gem & Jewellery Domestic Council (GJC) aims to grow the domestic gem and jewellery business to achieve a target of US$ 100 billion by 2025 from its present level of US$ 75 billion, officials of the trade body said at its two-day long Manthan Gems & Jewellery Conclave 2018 held in Mumbai on April 5-6, 2018.

The target was announced as part of the 2025 Growth Vision that was presented by  GJC chairman Nitin Khandelwal.

The Conclave of GJC, formerly known as All India Gems & Jewellery Trade Federation (GJF), was inaugurated by BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain in the presence of BJP’s Girish Vyas, Nitin Khandelwal (Chairman, GJC), Anantha Padmanaban (Vice Chairman, GJC), Manoj Kumar Jha and Shaankar Sen (Convenore & Jt. Convenor-Manthan, GJC). The event was supported by World Gold Council (WGC) and powered by GIA.

Khandelwal also revealed that the sector which currently employs 4.6 million people, aims to add another 2 million jobs by 2025. Over 40% of the jobs will be for women, he said.

An important driver of growth will be attempts to ensure that the entire industry comes under the organised sector, as against the current level of 60%, GJC officials said. The organisation will work to set up training centres in different parts of the country and facilitate the move to shift manufacturing to the organised sector through the establishment of gems and jewellery parks. The first of these is already coming up at Domjur in West Bengal, while another has been proposed in Navi Mumbai.

Focusing on the near term, Khandelwal said that demand for gold jewellery is expected to be good during the forthcoming wedding season, and sentiment among jewellers is improving. However, there were some challenges, he noted, particularly related to availability of finance for the small and medium enterprises as a result of banks demanding higher security in the wake of the recent scam.

The conclave was also addressed by dignitaries from within the industry as well as some from other sectors. Important speakers included Saurav Ganguly (legendary cricketer), Industrialists Suresh Narayanan (CMD, Nestle), Vivek Chaand Sehgal (Chairman Motherson Sumi Systems), Shriprakash Shukla (Mahindra & Mahindra group), Sudhanshu Mittal (Director, Nasscom), M. P. Ahammed (Chairman) and Asher O. (MD, Malabar Gold & Diamond, Ramesh (Deloitte), Shivanshu Mehta (MCX), K Rajagopalan (RAI), Rahil Ansari (Audi), Anurag Tyagi (Christian Dior), Nirupa Bhatt (MD-India and Middle East, GIA) and others.

The jewellery industry too was well represented with representatives of Malabar Gold & Diamond, TBZ Ltd., Ganjam, Senco, Minawala, Danabhai, Popley, Huzoorilal, Amrapali, Bluestone, Kiran Gems, NAC, Farah Ali Khan, GIA,  Chintamanis, Kamakhya, etc all addressing the Conclave.

In addition to the business sessions, the event also featured two fashion shows at an evening function. The shows were presented by Swarovski (with Mugdha Godse walking the ramp), Kiran Gems & Kamakhya.

Pic caption: GV Sreedhar (Immediate past Chairman, GJC), a BJP leader, Shaankar Sen (Jt. Convenor-Manthan, GJC), BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain, Nitin Khandelwal (Chairman, GJC), Mr. Manoj Kumar Jha (Convenor-Manthan, GJC) and Mr. Anantha Padmanaban (Vice Chairman, GJC) at the inauguration.