Gems and jewellery exports retain glitter amid gloom

India's gems and jewellery exports managed to retain glitter with a 1.45 per cent rise in shipments for the year ended March 2009, amid demand contraction in major global markets.      

Precious jewellery exports rose marginally to $21.11 billion in 2008-09 from $20.81 billion in the previous year.    

"The growth in the sector was primarily driven by gold jewellery (exports), which registered an increase of 23.64 per cent in FY'09," Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council Chairman Vasant Mehta said here today.  

The gold jewellery exports showed a better performance mainly in the first half of the fiscal 2008-09.     

However, the gems and jewellery industry witnessed a decline of 18.88 per cent in the second half of the last fiscal as global demand for the precious items took a severe beating since September.     

"The US slowdown in the second half of 2009 affected the industry greatly," Mehta said.