Gem and jewellery exports rise by 2.74 pc

Mumbai, Apr 17: The Indian Gem and Jewellery Industry posted a 2.74 per cent growth for the financial year 2006-07 with total exports touching USD 17.1 bn (Rs 77180.28 crore) as against USD 16.6 bn ( Rs73342.44 crores) last year.

The Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), apex body of the gem and jewellery trade in India, announced the results here today.

However, the total cut and polished diamond exports witnessed a decline of 7.83 per cent for the year 2006-07. Diamond merchandise exports posted a growth of 3.37 per cent with exports touching USD 9.77 billion (Rs 44106.95 crore) for the financial year 2006-07.

The maximum growth in the sector this year has been driven by the gold jewellery exports, which witnessed an increase of 34.55 per cent from USD 3.87 bn (Rs 17063.33 crore) to USD 5.21 bn (2315.84 crore).

Commenting on the industry's performance GJEPC chairman Sanjay Kothari said, ''The Industry has been going through a topsy turvy path in the diamond sector in the last quarter of the fiscal but still we have managed to grow at a healthy rate.'' GJEPC has embarked on a three-pronged approach for driving industry growth, namely, marketing and product development, policy and sourcing material.

GJEPC has taken an initiative to capture a larger market share in regions such as Japan and East European nations.

UNI