Gems and Jewellery exports fall 18% during Apr-Oct
1 Dec 2015 4:45 AM IST
Export of gems and jewellery from India dipped by about 18.33 per cent to $18.09 billion during April-October due to declining prices of gold, weak global demand and a sharp rise in return of consignments. The outbound shipments were worth $22.15 billion during the first seven months of last fiscal 2014-15, as per the provisional data of the Gems and Jewellery Export promotion Council (GJEPC).
Declining gold prices and global demand slowdown is the major reason for dip in exports besides increasing rejection of domestic consignments, said exporters body FIEO. “Rejection rate of our consignments are high. We need to put special focus on skilling of people in this industry.
China is the biggest competitor of India in the sector and their workforce is very skilled,” Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) Director General Ajay Sahai said. During the 7-month period of the current fiscal, consignments worth $4 billion were returned as compared to $1.78 billion during April-October 2014.
In October, exports from this labour intensive sector contracted by about 13 per cent year-on-year to $3.48 billion. The sector contributes about 14 per cent to the country’s total exports. The industry is seeking a cut in gold import duty to ensure adequate supply of the metal and help meet export demand for jewellery. To check high current account deficit, the government had hiked import duty on gold to 10 per cent. According to the GJEPC data, exports of cut and polished diamonds fell to $12.2 billion in April-October 2015 from $14.31 billion in the same period last year. Similarly, shipments of gold jewellery contracted to $2.38 billion from $3.27 billion during April-October 2014. Exports of gold medallion and coins, however, increased to $2.71 billion during the seven month period of this fiscal from $1.22 billion in the same period last year. Overall India’s exports remained in the negative territory for the 11th month in a row by registering a dip of 17.53 per cent in October to $21.35 billion.
FinMin to meet banks on Dec 1 to make Gold scheme attractive
The Finance Ministry will hold a review meeting with banks and RBI representatives on Tuesday to assess the gold monetisation scheme, which has seen a “slow response” since the launch earlier this month, so as to make it more attractive. The meeting, to be chaired by Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das, is also likely to be attended by RBI Deputy Governor H R Khan, an official said.
“Banks are now in talks with institutions and temples to popularise the gold monetisation scheme. The Economic Affairs department will review the progress on December 1,” the official added. The scheme, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 5, has received a “slow response”, according to the ministry. Out of the 20,000 tonnes of gold worth over Rs 52 lakh crore lying idle with households and institutions, the scheme has been able to garner only 400 gm of physical gold till November 18. The scheme is aimed at reducing the country’s reliance on the gold imports to meet the domestic demand.
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