Gold hallmarking facility to be available in Lucknow

Uttar Pradesh Export Corporation Ltd (UPECL) will soon start putting hallmark, a stamp of purity on gold jewellery for the manufacturers bringing their stuff to them.

UPECL, the state-owned undertaking, engaged in the promotion and marketing of handicrafts and handloom items of Uttar Pradesh, is in the process of setting up a gold hallmarking centre in Lucknow after receiving a license from the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). The proposed centre will be the first in the state.

"At present, the state jewellers have to travel to Delhi for getting their jewellery certified. The centre will provide assistance to jewellers of the state for certification of the purity of gold according to the guidelines of BIS," Markandey Singh, managing director, UPECL, told Business Standard.

The state government has sanctioned a project under the Assistance to State for Developing Export, Infrastructure and Allied activities (ASIDE) scheme of the Centre for setting up the centre at Lucknow.

The corporation expects to operationalise the facility within the next 6-7 months.

"The setting up of such a centre serves the dual purpose of ensuring quality of gold jewellery before export, along with guarding customer's interests for the purity and fineness of purchased gold," Singh added.

Hallmark is an international mark for certification of purity of gold. Bureau of Indian Standards is authorized to implement this in India. Under the scheme, gold is tested and hallmarked as per standard No. 1417 in the accredited laboratories by BIS.

However, the states' jewellers gave a mixed reaction over the whole development.

"Though the idea of setting a hallmark center in the state capital is a welcome idea, it should be introduced in stages. One cannot overlook the safety aspect for the jewellers, for whom it is risky affair to travel long distances carrying valuable jewellery with them," Mahesh Chandra Jain, president, Uttar Pradesh Sarrafa (jewellers) Association, Kanpur, said.

"If the state's manufacturer can travel all the way to Delhi then why not to Lucknow itself," asks Singh.

Meerut, Bareily, Mathura, Agra, Rampur, Lucknow and Varanasi are the major jewellery production centres in Uttar Pradesh, having more than 30,000 big gold manufacturers.

"The Cenre has shown interest in making hallmark mandatory. The final decision will be taken by the Delhi head quarters, once the selection criteria are fulfilled," said R.K.Sharma, director, BIS, Lucknow.

The land required for setting up the gold hallmarking facility has already been selected.