Shri Suresh Prabhu, Hon’ble Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, inaugurated the Indian Institute of Gems &Jewellery (IIGJ), Udupi yesterday in the presence of Shri Prakash Chandra Pincha, Regional Chairman, Eastern Region, GJEPC; Shri A. Nagaraj Acharya (President, Udupi Jewellers Association) amongst other dignitaries. This initiative has also received significant support from Hon’ble Union Minister of Defence,Ms. Nirmala Sitharaman.

IIGJ Udupi has been set up by GJEPC in association with National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, and is a first of its kind institute in a region which has a rich jewellery heritage, with over 100 jewelleryretailers and a workforce comprising over 5,000 artisans and craftsmen.

This is the sixth IIGJ established by The Gem &Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) in India. IIGJs have earlier been set up in Mumbai, Jaipur, New Delhi and Varanasi. Such institutes play a key role in the realization of Hon. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of Skill India, and of ensuring that India becomes the Jeweller to the World.

Addressing the inaugural function, Shri Prabhusaid, “Designing as a career option would be the most ideal and prosperous path for the young upcoming and aspiring designers in the future, as it is also becoming a most important part of the social economic development of the country, particularly in today’s world where the global value chain and global supply chain are becoming a reality.”

He said that combining the rich culture and tradition of the country with modern training tools and techniques, can make Udupi a learning centre for the whole of South India. “GJEPC’s IIGJ aims to provide training to the youth in the region in various aspects of hand-crafted jewellery making, which could eventually lead to employment opportunities in this dynamic gem &jewellery sector. It also aims at preserving and enhancing the skills of the existing workforce already engaged with the industry. Creation and upgradation of such trained workforce will in turn help in fostering development of the local jewellery industry,” Shri Prabhu added.

Shri Pramod Kumar Agrawal, Chairman, GJEPC, said, “Udupi boasts of a rich jewellery making heritage and culture and IIGJ Udupi will help tap the potential of the youth and talented artisans to create world-class handcrafted jewellery. IIGJ Udupi has the ultimate objective of nurturing talent & enhancing jewellery exports from the region. We hope to revive the rich tradition of best-in-class jewellery designing and craftsmanship in the entire southern region through this first-of-its-kind IIGJ Institute. By setting up institutes like IIGJ and common facility centres, GJEPC has initiated another way to further equip the Indian gems and jewellery sector and make it globally competitive.”

IIGJ Udupi will focus on three levels of skills:

• New Skilling for developing fresh skills in candidates who have no prior domain learning/working knowledge of jewellery;
• Up-Skilling for upgrading the skills of candidates who have prior domain learning and are already working in the sector; and
• Giving a design & technological orientation to the local industry to be competitive in the Indian & world market.

IIGJ Udupi will bridge the gaps and help students/ existing workers get access to the best possible quality education, best-in-class technology practices and skill enhancement tools & techniques in the gem &jewellery business.  IIGJ offers several other intensive career-oriented courses for both artisans and entrepreneurs. The courses include: Jewellery Design - Manual, Jewellery Design - CAD Based, Jewellery Manufacturing - Casting and Jewellery Making - Bench Work. Other short term courses such as CAD, Manufacturing, Merchandising, Diamond Grading and Gemology are designed as upgradation and skill enhancement modules.