GJEPC today met with top officials of the ICBC Standard Bank, London to sort out the issues of steady duty-free gold and silver supplies at off-city locations for small-scale exporters. The meeting was attended by Mr. Tom Kendall, MD, ICBC Standard Bank London; Mr. Ian Harris, Head Physical Precious Metals, ICBC Standard Bank London; and Mr. Avadhani Sanagaram of Resource Banking Consulting. They were welcomed by Mr. Saunak Parikh, Convener, Banking Insurance & Taxation Sub-committee; Mr. Milan Chokshi, Director, Diamond India Ltd. (DIL); Mr. Nirakar Chand, CEO, DIL; and Mr. Sabyasachi Ray, Executive Director, GJEPC.
Mr. Ray gave a detailed presentation outlining the scale and ambition of the gem and jewellery industry, plans for growth, challenges related to the scarcity of precious metal supplies, and expectations from nominated agencies/banks. In his presentation, Mr. Ray said that in order to cater to small-scale exporters, the nominated agency/banks should release gold in multiples of 100g and silver in multiples of 10kg to exporters, as per the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP). He noted that the high premiums charged on gold make exports non-competitive. He also called for steady duty-free gold and silver supplies to be made available to exporters in far-flung locations (other than metros).
GJEPC acknowledged ICBC Standard Bank’s decade-long support to DIL, a nominated agency set up by GJEPC, which caters to 800 small and medium-sized exporters.