Common Facility Centre to come up for jewellery makers at Bowbazar

Kolkata: In a bid to enhance the productivity and quality of handmade jewellery products in the city, a Common Facility Centre (CFC) at Bowbazar will be opened by the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), in association with Swarna Shilpa Bachao Samiti (SSBC) and with help from the Union Ministry of Commerce & Industry.

According to the Economic Advisor to Ministry of Commerce & Industry Rupa Dutta, the gem and jewellery industry has been an important contributor to the economy of the country. It also employs five million people.

"The ministry wants to enhance the productivity and quality of products of our MSME units and make them contribute to exports," she said, adding: "The concept of CFC is ideal where small units can get easy access to capital-intensive facility which is beyond investment capacity of individual jewellery manufacturing unit holders. I am sure that such initiatives can surely boost exports from the country."

On Thursday, during a ceremony for setting up the CFC at Bowbazar, Dutta further said: "Several other CFCs are operational in several states successfully. Our hope is that this one will also see success within a short period of time after commencement."

According to the GJEPC officials, in order to remain competitive in the current world market where modern technology is being used extensively, it is important to provide the artisans access to modern machines and tools for manufacturing jewellery.

At CFC Bowbazar, even the smallest units of artisans who do not have any machine, can get their various manufacturing processes completed at a very nominal cost.