Gems and Jewellery exports declined by 14.5 per cent to USD 25.95 billion during the first ten months of the current fiscal due to slowdown in global demand.
In the April-January period of last fiscal, the exports stood at US$ 30.35 billion, according to the data from Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC).
Besides global slowdown, the rejection of consignments is one of the reasons for dip in the value of exports. During the ten-month period of the current fiscal, consignments worth US$ 5.15 billion were returned as compared to US$ 2.73 billion during the same period previous year.
The sector contributes about 14 per cent to the country’s overall exports. Exports of cut and polished diamonds fell to US$ 15.83billion during the ten-month period from USD 19.11 billion a year ago. Similarly, shipments of gold jewellery contracted to USD3.22 billion from USD 5.54 billion during April 2014 – January2015.
Exports of gold medallion and coins, however, increased to US$ 4.50 billion during the ten-month period of this fiscal from USD 2.03 billion in the same period previous fiscal.
Dip in gems and jewellery exports has also impacted the overall outbound shipments of the country.
Exports dipped for the fourteenth month in a row, down13.6 per cent in January to USD 21 billion due to fall in shipments of petroleum and engineering goods, although trade deficit showed improvement.
The government is hopeful that incentives such as 3 per cent interest subsidy and enhanced rate for duty drawback could help contain the decline.
[Source:- Artofjewellery]