The Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) inaugurated the first design-centric jewellery show of the calendar year 2023, India International Jewellery Show (IIJS) Signature and India Gem & Jewellery Machinery Expo (IGJME) at the Bombay Exhibition Centre, Mumbai, on 5th January 2023.
The inauguration was graced by Chief Guest Smt. Anupriya Patel, Hon’ble Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Guests of Honour Smt. Poonam Mahajan, Member of Parliament and Shri. MP Ahammed, Chairman, Malabar Gold & Diamonds; and Shri. R. Arulanandan, Director, Department of Commerce; Union Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Govt. of India) along with Shri Vipul Shah, Chairman, GJEPC; Shri Kirit Bhansali, Vice Chairman, GJEPC; Shri Nirav Bhansali, Convener, National Exhibitions; Shri Sabyasachi Ray, ED, GJEPC along with others.
The 15th edition of IIJS Signature is the biggest-ever, equal in size and scale of IIJS Premiere, which is usually held in August each year.
Given the bigger format of the show, IIJS Signature has been extended to five days instead of four, to allow visitors and exhibitors more time to interact and do business deals.
IIJS is spread across six halls encompassing 65,000 sq. ft., and has over 1,300 exhibitors spread over 2,400+ booths. The show is expected to welcome 24,000 visitors from 10,000 domestic companies attending the show. GJEPC has introduced a new section for lab-grown diamonds. IGJME is a concurrent show with 90+ companies, 115+ booths @ Hall 7.
This year, IIJS Signature has a record number of 800 foreign visitors from 600 companies from 50 countries. Delegations have come from 10 countries: U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Iran, Bangladesh, Nepal, UAE, Bahrain and Russia. For the first time a delegation has come from Saudi Arabia with 18 prime buyers.
In her address, Chief Guest Smt. Anupriya Patel said, “IIJS Signature has always had a rich legacy and this ‘green’ expo edition is special as it has a dedicated space for women entrepreneurs and budding jewellery designers. The Ministry has taken several steps such as implementation of simplified regulatory framework for gem & jewellery exports through e-commerce, reduction of duties for imports of diamonds, a new gold monetisation policy and hallmarking norms. Government is committed to promotion of exports as the gem and jewellery sector is one of the top performing segments of the country.”
Smt. Poonam Mahajan said that the next 25 years after Amrit Mahotsav celebration should see India as the global leader and hub in gem & jewellery exports, adding that India will be a Kohinoor in the global gem and jewellery business. The new Jewellery Park in Navi Mumbai will make Maharashtra and India a global leader.
In his speech, Shri Vipul Shah, Chairman, GJEPC said, “India is a world leader in diamonds, gems & jewellery and GJEPC has earned the title of being the most proactive EPC in India due to several initiatives such as IIJS Signature and IGJME. This year, the show has become bigger, better and greener than ever before. India’s overall gem and jewellery exports in this year saw a growth of 8.26% as compared to last year. The last quarter of this fiscal year is very crucial as it demands a strong growth to achieve this year’s target of USD 45.7 billion. Hon’ble Minister of Commerce & Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal operationalised FTAs with Australia under ECTA and the India UAE CEPA (in May 2022) and two more FTAs are expected this year. FTAs would really help to boost the gem and jewellery exports.”
Talking about GJEPC’s recommendations for the Union Budget 2023-24, Shri Shah said, “Reduction in Import Duty on gold, silver and platinum to 4% is our prime demand to the Government, as it is draining off the capital from the exporters and is the generator of economic malpractices of all kind. One of the requests is to Allow Sale of Rough diamonds in Special Notified Zone through Safe Harbour rule by diamond companies. At least 20% of the rough diamond traded in the world will be shifted to SNZ in India due to the level playing field given to the foreign mining companies.”
He added, “Among the other recommendations for budget 2023-24 are: re-introduction of Diamond Imprest Licence to give the diamond exporters the leverage to cope up with the beneficiation policies undertaken by major mining countries in Africa; introduction of Repair Policy for Jewellery to transform India to become the repair hub of the world; abolition of Import duty on LGD seeds and investment in different measures to make the LGD manufacturing sector in India a leader in the same manner as we rein natural diamond processing sector. This will make India process the entire supply chain in the country itself.”
Shri MP Ahammed, Chairman, Malabar Gold & Diamonds, said, “GJEPC has helped regional jewellers with a global platform to fulfil Prime Minister’s vision of taking Indian jewellers from every corner of the country to the global market. We believe in Make in India and Market to the world concept.”
Shri Nirav Bhansali, Convener, National Exhibitions, GJEPC, said, “Since its inception 38 years ago, IIJS has surpassed its role as a conventional exhibition and has become the primary national platform for the Indian jewellery manufacturing industry to network with global retailers. This edition of IIJS Signature show has many new and innovative features. The Innov8 area in Hall 1, is hosting Seminars now re-branded as Innov8 Talks, which is open to all. This time, we tried to be more outward looking, and have brought in experts in other fields to share valuable insights with our members. At other times, the same square will host Innov8 LaunchPad, where new products will be unveiled by Signature exhibitors at designated time slots. For a glimpse of exciting new talent, I encourage you to visit the Design Gallery in Hall 5 featuring Budding Designers and Women Entrepreneurs. For the 1st time, we have a special section for the Sunrise sector Lab-Grown Diamonds with over 50 booths. It is the most soughtafter product category today.”
He added, “Interestingly, you cannot spell ‘Signature’ without ‘nature’. I think this show was the perfect Launchpad for our proenvironment initiative, known as One Earth to reduce our carbon footprint through an aggressive tree plantation drive. One Earth is the Council’s first step towards making the IIJS shows completely carbon-neutral. We have already received commitments for planting 25000+ trees and we will cross 50,000 trees in this year. We have tied up with SankalpTaru Foundation for this process. Moreover, the current show we are experiencing is running completely on “green energy.”
GJEPC is taking all effort to make the show bigger, better and greener, and aims to make the IIJS shows completely carbon-neutral by 2025-2026.
GJEPC’s IIJS Tritiya in Bangalore is emerging as one of the best shows for the southern region. The show dates are 17th to 20th March 2023. With 1500+ booths and 800+ exhibitors, we expect IIJS Tritiya to be almost as big as last year’s IIJS Signature.