The craze for Chinese pearl is catching on in Kanpur. This is posing stiff competition for domestic traders, as the market is flooded with low-cost Chinese products. In fact, Chinese traders have steadily increased their market share to over 50 per cent in only a couple of years.
Kanpur is a major trading centre for jewellers across the state and the ornaments manufactured here are supplied to states like Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.
According to Vivek Gupta, owner, Lala Purshottam Dass Jewellers, Chinese pearls cost up to 70 per cent less than regular pearls and now control business of over Rs 150 crore of the total Rs 300 crore pearl market in India. Kanpur alone does a business of around Rs 4 crore every month, engaging almost 600 jewellers.
The demand for Chinese pearls has increased after their quality improved and the price remained low, says Gulshan Khatri, a retailer at Shah Market.
According to Ashish Sachdeva, professor, at the Indian Institute of Gems and Jewellery, the imported pearl market was to the tune of Rs 100 crore in 2006. It has increased three-fold last year, and a major chunk comes from China.
However, the dearth of skillful designers and craftsmen here is hindering the trade. “We have been hiring designers from Delhi and Hyderabad,” says Gupta. But many local jewellery manufacturing facilities are moving to the latest computer-aided design and other advanced design systems.
In fact, the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council has also decided to open a National Institute for Gems and Jewellery in Kanpur to churn out skilled craftsmen and designers. The proposed institute will help in rapid adoption of modern techniques in the field of production control, supply chain and inventory management for the benefit of the local jewellery industry.
“A good blend of modern manufacturing and design techniques with the traditional skills of the local artisans offers huge potential for the pearl and jewellery market of Kanpur,” feels Mahesh Chandra Jain, president, Uttar Pradesh Sarrafa Association. The Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council is also eyeing new export markets like Latin American countries to offset the over dependence on China.