The Indian Institute of Gems and Jewellery (IIGJ), an educational project of the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) celebrated its 11th convocation ceremony in the presence of chief guest Vinod Tawde, minister for higher & technical education, Government of Maharashtra. He was accompanied by GJEPC chairman Praveenshankar Pandya and Vaishali Banerjee, MD India, Platinum Guild of India among others.
IIGJ chairman Kirit Bhansali formally introduced IIGJ Mumbai and its achievements to Tawde, noting that the gems and jewellery industry contributes over 6% to India’s GDP and jewellery education should have its rightful place as a mainstream career option for hundreds and thousands of aspiring students. Bhansali further requested the minister to introduce gems and jewellery as a formal course in universities.
In his address at the convocation ceremony, Tawde acknowledged the request of IIGJ chairman and considering the potential of this sector said that the state government will soon undertake the process of recognising the IIGJ as a part of Mumbai University. In this context, the minister suggested the gems and jewellery fraternity to evolve its own local, appropriate courses for students and avoid copying syllabus from overseas institutions. “Create an authentic syllabus and undertake degree courses with local relevance,” he said, adding that the management of the IIGJ should have 10-12 different courses and take this institution to the level of IIT or IIM to compete with their international peers.
GJEPC chairman Praveenshankar Pandya said that the Indian jewellery industry needs to have modernised factories and upgrade jewellery manufacturing techniques to world standards to become the number one jewellery exporter in the world. India is already the world leader in diamond and colour stone exports and it has to achieve numero uno status in jewellery exports too, Pandya said. He also emphasised the need to enhance the art of designing and manufacturing and for this purpose, needed support from the Maharashtra Government in terms of allocation of land to develop a Jewellery Park as well as a Gems and Jewellery University in Navi Mumbai.