The Hon’ble Minister for Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Shri Suresh Prabhu and   Member of Parliament Sushree Poonam Mahajan felicitated outstanding performers from the Indian gem and jewellery industry at the India Gem and Jewellery Awards 2017 held in Mumbai on July 28, 2018. This was the 44th year that the GJEPC organised its annual awards ceremony now known as IGJA.

Chief Guest Shri Prabhu congratulated all the winners for their roles in boosting the industry’s performance by scaling new peaks of excellence. He said that the government was fully supportive of the industry and would help it reach its full potential, and called on the banks to extend their support too. According to him, the industry which accounted for nearly 15% of the country’s merchandise exports was an important contributor to the growth of the economy.

Shri Prabhu also said that his ministry has recommended that the RBI should consider the entire export sector as a “priority sector” for lending in order to promote exports of goods and services from India.

Announcing that the ministry was working closely with GJEPC to set up export promotion offices in key global centres, Shri Prabhu said that this would help push overseas shipments of goods in a targeted manner.

In her Keynote address, Sushree Poonam Mahajan hailed the contribution of the industry to the growth of the Indian economy and its role in providing employment to millions. She praised the Council for conducting the awards ceremony each year and for providing recognition not only to the large companies but also to women entrepreneurs and companies from the MSME segment.

Earlier, Shri Pramod Agrawal, Chairman GJEPC welcomed the guests, the winners and all those present. In his welcome speech, Agrawal thanked the minister for his unstinted support to the Council at all times and the assurance of support in resolving the problems related to bank finance. He said that the industry was faced with a decline in bank finance due to tighter controls and lending norms, but hoped to overcome some of these challenges with the support of the government.

The chairman said that the industry had set a target of exports of US$ 60 billion by 2022. To achieve this, it has, jointly with the government, taken up programmes like the setting up of Common Facility Centres (CFC) across key industry clusters around the country to give smaller companies and artisans easier access to technology; expanding the network of training institutes to provide skilled manpower and was establishing a Jewellery Park near Mumbai which would draw in investments of over Rs 13,000 crore and provide an additional boost to employment.

Prominent award winners included Kiran Gems Pvt Ltd which won the award for the Highest Exports of Cut & Polished Diamonds for the 10th consecutive year, as well as other awards in categories like Best Digital Initiative, Most Socially Responsible Company and Highest Taxpayer; Laxmi Diamonds Pvt Ltd which was also among the top three diamond exporters, the Best Growing company and the runner up for Most Socially Responsible company and State Bank of India which bagged four awards in the Banking segment. Veteran diamantaire Kanubhai B. Shah was given a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Pic caption: Hon'ble Minister C&I and Civil Aviation Shri Suresh Prabhu and MP Sushree  Poonam Mahajan lighting the lamp with  GJEPC Chairman Pramod Agrawal (3rd fm rt), Vice Chairman Colin Shah (2nd fm rt); with Nirupa Bhatt (ext rt), and (fm left) Sabyasachi Ray, Kirit Bhansali, and Ashok Gajera

The complete list of winners is as follows: