Boosting India's jewellery industry, one scheme at a time

In an exclusive interview with The Retail Jeweller India, Sabyasachi Ray, executive director of India’s Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), underlines some of the path-breaking initiatives the organisation has undertaken to aid the overall gem and jewellery ecosystem, which is dominated by MSME players. - Anushri Mondal

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The Retail Jeweller (TRJ): Indian jewellery manufacturers are modernising their facilities to cater to the demands of India’s growing share of the international market. How is the GJEPC supporting them in becoming more competitive?

Sabyasachi Ray (SR): India has several jewellery manufacturing clusters that are contributing to exports, but not all are able to grow at the same pace. The GJEPC recognises this disparity. We receive grants from the government to help manufacturer-exporters. These funds are utilised to conduct research on the key jewellery clusters, such as those in Delhi, Mumbai, Surat, Rajkot and Kolkata. The GJEPC has appointed the National Council of Economic Survey to conduct cluster mapping and identify the existing technological infrastructure, which will help us identify clusters that lack advancement and undertake the necessary measures to develop those. We endeavour to bring them on par with the ones that are advanced in terms of technology, resources and facilities. To realise the Make in India vision, it is important to make every cluster self-sufficient.

TRJ: The GJEPC has recently set up four Common Facility Centres (CFCs) across India. What impact do you envision it will have on the MSME sector?