Govt plans to set up gold assaying centres

The consumer affairs department of the food ministry has drawn up an elaborate programme of setting up gold assaying and hallmarking centres in all the 602 districts in three years at an estimated cost of Rs 421.5 crore.

Besides protecting the buyers of gold jewellery against cheating, this move will enable the jewellery exporters to get their products hallmarked in India, instead of the UK, at a much lower cost. The hallmarking will essentially provide third party assurance to the consumers on purity and weightage of gold.

India has moved to become the member of the Vienna convention on control and stamping of articles of precious metals to get global recognition for its gold hallmarking.

This would help India substantially raise its share in the world jewellery market. This share is a mere one per cent at present though the country is the world's largest consumer of gold, estimated annually at about 800 tonne.

According to consumer department, top preference will be given to setting up of gold hallmarking centres in the jewellery export zones and Mumbai from where maximum exports take place.

At present, the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), the sold body to operate hallmarking activities, has recognised only 24 gold hallmarking centres.

The new scheme proposes to cover all the 602 districts with one gold assaying and hallmarking centre each in three phases, beginning the current year. In the first phase, about 100 to 150 gold assaying and hallmarking centres will be set up in 2005-06. The second phase will be in 2006-07 and the third and final phase in 2007-08.

A token sum of Rs 1 crore has been allocated for this scheme in the current year's budget. But the consumer affairs department has urged the Planning Commission to provide about Rs 90 crore for meeting the target in the first phase.

The department is hopeful of getting Rs 300 crore next year for this scheme. The establishment cost of each centre is estimate at about Rs 70 lakh, excluding the infrastructure costs.

The participation in the hallmarking scheme is voluntary for the jewellers to begin with. But the department proposes to launch a publicity campaign to build up "Hallmark" as a virtual brand name and put pressure on jewellers to obtain licences to hallmark their jewellery.

Besides, the department has also approached the banking sector to recognise hallmarked jewellery as an item against which they can provide finance to the farmers.

Once the gold is hallmarked and has the BIS logo, the banks should be in a position to lend money against it, the sources point out.