Kay Jewels sets Rs 30-cr exports target

Kay Jewels, the Kanpur-based jewellery major, has set a target of Rs 30 crore jewellery exports in the next three years, from the existing export of about Rs 15 crore.

The firm, an offshoot of Kashi Jewellers, was established three years ago after the separation between the brothers in the family and now owned by Ravi Kapoor

Kapoor told Business Standard, "When we separated, we inherited a casting and handwork jewellery factory in Noida with the condition that we shall not export to the UK market."

"We were initially uncertain whether we should establish local sales. However, soon this question was resolved when we realised that India is a country which uses twice the amount of gold then rest of the world, therefore this is going to be a stable business. This realisation made us restart our local retail," Kapoor said.

For exports, the company has established an office in Houston, Texas. The firm exports to the US, which is purely a diamond market, consuming 40 per cent of the world output and to various Caribbean islands.

Kapoor said, "These are spots where tourists stop at various islands like St Martin, Adoba. There are string of jewellery shops owned by Sindhis, and it is these to whom we supply. These shops sell company-made jewellery."

Moreover, the Noida outfit has a capacity to make many items of the same design, since once dies have been made these can be duplicated. This situation is ideally suited for the US market, where marketing is done through retailer chains. And each design is required in large numbers to be placed in different retail stores.

The jewellery thus made requires hand finishing. Thus, half of the work is done by machine but the rest by hand. The Export Processing Zone, Noida, has been converted into an SEZ and Kapoor plans to make use of it by shifting casting factory to the SEZ, while retaining the handcrafted work at the present location.

The exports are of diamond-studded jewellery and precious stones, not gold, as there is very little margin in gold jewellery export. In any case, the US is not a gold jewellery market.

Now, Kapoor is eyeing Australia as the next destination. The exports currently are worth Rs 15 crore and in three years the plan is to increase this to Rs 30 crore.