Pranda Jewelry to set up unit in India

Company to source workforce from Rajkot.

The Indian arm of Thailand-based Pranda Jewelry Public Company Ltd has planned to set up its 24 carat gold jewellery manufacturing facility in the country to cash in on the rising gold demand here.

A distribution arm of Pranda Group based out of Mumbai, Pranda Jewelry Pvt Ltd was set up in 2007 under a joint venture between Pranda Jewelry PCL and Gunjan Jewels Pvt Ltd.

According to Vinod Tejwani, director, Pranda Jewelry Pvt Ltd, the company deals in 24 carat (99.9 per cent) gold jewellery under the brand Prima Gold, gold art work under Prima Art brand and silver jewellery.

"The parent company has its 24 carat gold jewellery manufacturing facilities in Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and China. We are now planning to set up a facility in India as well. When commenced, it would be the first company to manufacture 24 carat (99.9 per cent) gold jewellery in India. Currently, the country has manufacturing facilities of 23 carat (96.5 per cent) gold jewellery," claimed Tejwani, who was in Ahmedabad recently.

For the proposed facility, which is likely to be set up in Mumbai, the company would be recruiting skilled craftsmen from Thailand, apart from training some local craftsmen. "About 72 per cent of India's gold jewellery comes from Rajkot in Gujarat. Therefore, we will source craftsmen from there to train them in manufacturing 24 carat gold jewellery," said Tejwani.

While value-addition on the purest of gold in India happens to be 25-40 per cent of the original cost, it touches around 80 per cent in the case of Prima Gold, said Tejwani. "Due to such high value-addition, the price range for our products is high and targeted at elite consumers," he added.

On the distribution front, the company is going strong on its retail expansion plans as well. In the next three years, it plans to set up 50 company-owned retail gold and silver jewellery stores in India.

Currently, the company is setting up shop-in-shop franchisees in multi-branded outlets and malls.

"By the end of 2008, we plan to set up such stores in at least seven states including Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka. Retail outlets are also being opened simultaneously in Dubai, Japan, Egypt, Pakistan and Nepal, merchandise for which will be sourced from India," said Tejwani.