Govt working on providing enabling environment, market access to jewellery industry: Piyush Goyal

The government is working on providing enabling environment and market access to the gems and jewellery sector, Union minister Piyush Goyal said on Saturday said. The commerce and industry minister was speaking at the foundation stone laying ceremony for a mega common facility centre at Santacruz Electronic Export Processing Zone Special Economic Zone (SEEPZ SEZ).

“We need to make this industry not a USD 40 billion industry alone but have a much much bigger ambition. We on our part will do everything to reach those truly outstanding numbers that you had shown to raise as the potential of this trade.

“We are working with many countries to give the enabling environment and market access particularly for the gem and jewellery sector,” Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs and Food and Public Distribution and Textiles Piyush Goyal said.

This project is expected to be inaugurated on May 1, 2023.

“We aim to complete this project against the wind of Covid,” the minister said.

Goyal further said the government is also working on decisions to revamp and reconstruct the SEEPZ.

“Incidentally, we had made a lot of other decisions about the overall revamp and reconstruction of the entire SEEPZ zone… Ideally, we can use the same methodology that has been done for this project,” he added.

The mega CFC will provide common manufacturing processes and related services to the jewellery industry.

“The new Mega CFC will give a fillip to small manufacturers to scale up their quality of production and this, in turn, will further contribute substantially to the exports of the country. The Mega CFC would not just be a facility for imparting training and skills, but a strong symbol of progression,” SEEPZ SEZ Zonal Development Commissioner Shyam Jagannathan Shriram said.

This will help reduce the cost of production and lead to the transfer of know-how amongst these units, thereby providing a competitive advantage.

The mega Common Facility Centre (CFC) for gems and jewellery will be one of two such facilities (the other being at Surat) that will provide cutting edge technology for manufacturing and other allied processes in the gems and jewellery sector.

“There is a commitment of Rs 200 crore for the rejuvenation and redevelopment of SEEPZ-SEZ, and the establishment of a mega CFC with a budget of Rs 70 crore,” Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council Chairman Colin Shah said.

“This project aims to bring the gem and jewellery sector one step closer to the Atmanirbhar Bharat envisioned for the nation,” Shah said.

Currently, the SEEPZ contributes around USD 3 billion to our total gem and jewellery exports annually, but with better infrastructure and technology, it has the potential to contribute to USD 7-10 billion annually, he added.

Courtesy: Economic Times