India’s gem and jewellery exports may maintain their 15 per cent growth trajectory to touch $49.5 billion in the 2011-12 fiscal, driven by an increase in prices of gold and diamonds, the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council has said.

In the 2010-11 fiscal, these exports stood at $43 billion, according to the council.

“The first eight months have been okay for us and I believe the growth momentum will be maintained in the remaining months of the current fiscal,” the GJEPC Chairman, Mr Rajiv Jain, told PTI.

During the April-November period this fiscal, gem and jewellery exports grew 15.5 per cent to $29.1 billion in comparison to the same period last year.

India mainly imports gold and rough diamonds in large quantities and re-exports value-added items like jewellery.

Prices of gold, diamonds and coloured stones increased 12-13 per cent in the first eight months this fiscal, Mr Jain said.

The value of exports has seen an increase despite sluggish demand in western markets, mainly because of the rise in raw material costs.

Mr Jain noted there is not much growth in demand for jewellery exports, “but exports are growing in terms of value. These export figures are reflective of an increase in gold and diamond prices.”

The UAE is the major market for India’s gems and jewellery exports, accounting for 43 per cent of overseas shipments, followed by Hong Kong (30 per cent) and the US (17 per cent).

Exporters are trying to tap new markets in countries situated in Latin America and Africa, besides Russia, Mr Jain said.

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