Rajkot jewellery sees no spark in exports

Despite showrooms across the world stocking a separate line of jewellery made in Rajkot, jewellery from the city has failed to capture the global business potential. Hardly 7-8 jewellers among the 500-plus-strong jeweller community in the city hold an import-export licence.

"Very few jewellers are involved in direct exports which explains why hardly 300 kg of gold jewellery was exported in the last financial year," said Haresh Soni, Partner of Premji Valji & Sons, a leading lifestyle jewellery showroom from the city and exporter of precious metal jewellery.

Jewellers say around 3,000 kg of gold and 30,000-40,000 kg of silver are imported every month and that out of the total imports of precious metals, a majority of them are utilised in producing light-weight jewellery and more than 70 per cent produce are shipped to precious metal traders, outside Saurashtra-Kutch region and Gujarat.

The reluctance to export has come about due to tedious documentation procedures, which is why goldsmiths in Rajkot prefer to deal indirectly with international buyers through intermediaries rather than venturing directly into exports, said Soni.

There have been recent reports of Rajkot's jewellery being in demand in European markets, but this has been refuted by jewellers.

"Europeans do not prefer Rajkot manufactured jewellery as its handmade. They are lovers of precision and prefer machine-manufactured jewellery and as a result such machine-manufactured jewellery is in high demand across the European nations including Spain, Portugal, Greece, Germany, Italy etc," he added.

Total exports of Gems and Jewellery from India to countries like the US, Hong Kong, UAE, Singapore, Belgium, Israel, Japan, Thailand, UK, Switzerland, Germany, Australia, Italy, France and other countries for the financial year 2005-06 was approximately Rs 94,236.86 crore of which jewellery exports totalled close to Rs 22,164.46 crore.

Rajkot hardly has a share in jewellery exports, directly when port-wise exports data of Gems and Jewellery exports is considered.

"Of the Rs 4,00,738.66 crore exports registered from Mumbai, New Delhi, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kochi, Coimbatore and Surat for 15 consecutive financial years from 1990-91 till 2004-05, Rajkot surfaces nowhere," said Vikas Chudasama, general secretary, All India Gems and Jewellery Trade Federation.

The lowest export figures in the above cities was registered from Ahmedabad at Rs 0.53 crore and highest was recorded from Mumbai with Rs 360,499.79 crore, he added.

To fill the existing vacuum experienced in exports, Rajkot- based Gold Dealers Association has begun to organise seminars and education sessions with institutes like the National Institute of Fashion Technology, Bureau of Indian Standards, and All India Gems & Jewellery Trade Federation.

"Majority of exports from here are of indirect nature and one of the main reasons is that the trade fraternity lacks the skill of promoting their products at national or international scales," said Kantibhai Ranpara, president of the Rajkot Gold Dealers Association.

"With an objective that the traders may understand the prevailing market trends, importance of branding their products, qualifying it on global parameters and project their skill-set by exhibiting their products on international and national platform, we have been organising such seminars frequently, educating the fraternity to promote 'Brand Rajkot' on the international platform," said Ranpara.

Even the logistics companies hardly witness huge bookings in terms of high value consignments (HVC).

"HVC are treated as premium products in our trade as they are high revenue generating consignments. Since the last few years, we hardly have HVC bookings except once in a year or two done to mobilise shipment of such products which are being shipped as exhibits in domestic or international sector, for display in exhibitions," claimed an employee with an international express courier company.