Exports of gems and jewellery from the country increased by about 10 per cent in FY2017 to $43.156 billion from $39.286 billion in FY2016, according to Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council’s provisional data.
Within the overall exports of gems and jewellery, exports of cut and polished diamonds showed a robust growth of 10 per cent rising to $22.783 billion, from $20.667 million in the previous year.
Stressing on the need to work towards achieving higher growth in the diamonds segment, Praveenshankar Pandya, Chairman, GJEPC, said “We have got a 10 per cent growth but we cannot simply stagnate at this level. We need to have more promotional programmes. If we are able to get an additional 10 million carats of rough polish (diamonds) it means an additional employment of 2 lakh people.”
Silver jewellery and synthetic stones were the star performers recording export growth of 36 per cent and 85 per cent, respectively. Export of pearls jumped 387 per cent, albeit on a lower base.
Coloured gemstones exports took a hit, declining 3 per cent while those of gold jewellery grew marginally from $8.557 billion to $8.721 billion.
Cut and polished diamonds segment and gold jewellery accounted for 53 per cent and 20 per cent, respectively, of the total gems and jewellery exports.
The UAE remained the largest importer of gems and jewellery, accounting for around 32 per cent of the total exports followed by Hong Kong and the US, whose share stood at 30 per cent and 23 per cent, respectively.
Total imports of gem and jewellery increased 19 per cent from $24.226 billion to $28.777 billion.