The Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) organised two special seminars – one each for the artisan and jeweller communities – at Jabalpur to create awareness about the different government programmes available for the MSME companies in the G&J sector and to inform them about various initiatives taken up by the Council for those working in the industry.

The seminar was addressed by Nilesh Trivedi, Assistant Manager, MSME, DI, Indore; Devbrata Mishra, GM, DIC Jabalpur; Naveen Bhaskar, Manager, State Bank of India; Rashmi Gupta, Hall Marking Center, Jabalpur, a representative of Godrej company and others.

The seminars were attended by a large number of jewellers and artisans.

Officials from the MSME Ministry explained in detail about the different government policies that are in place and other promotional schemes for the smaller units.

Later, speaking on behalf of GJEPC, Mithilesh Pandey provided an overview of the Council and its activities as well as the different welfare schemes such as Parichay Card, Swasthya Ratna and Swasthya Kosh for health insurance. He also enumerated the advantages of becoming a member of the Council and its latest outreach efforts including a Mobile App, the Call Centre etc.

Pandey also introduced government schemes related to interest subvention, Lean Manufacturing Competitiveness Scheme, financial assistance available from the Government for participation in exhibitions held abroad and given through NSIC. He also shared details about various schemes of the MSME ministry and gave the participants a brief overview about the upcoming Jewellery Park near Mumbai.

A representative of Godrej spoke about the latest offerings for safes and storage of jewellery.

After the question and answer session, the MSME officials urged the jewellers to resolve that a minimum of ten members would commence exports from the district and received an encouraging response. The local Saraffa Association also decided to apply for Parichay Cards for its members.

Anand Mohan, President of the Association steered the discussions while Ravi Gupta of Mahakaushal Chamber of Commerce and Industry presided as Chief Guest. The programme was conducted by Raja Saraf of the Sarafa Association, Jabalpur.