World's leading coloured gemstones supplier Gemsfields aims to increase its market share in India by 10 per cent to 30 per cent in the next three-five years.
"India is a key market for us and it will continue to be one of our main focus regions in the coming years. At present, we enjoy 20 per cent of the market share of coloured gemstones. We are looking at increasing it to 30 per cent in 3-5 years," Gemsfields Chief Operating Officer Dev Shetty told reporters here today.
The London-based company accounts for nearly 60-65 per cent of the world's coloured gemstone output. It supplies stones like emeralds, rubies and sapphires to Indian jewellery manufacturers and retailers directly and indirectly.
In India, there is a need to train retailers about coloured gemstones, about grading and resale value so that they will be able to do a better business, he said.
Of the total jewellery industry in the country, whose size stands at USD 40 billion, the coloured gems stones constitute about 1 per cent, he said.
"So in order to increase this market share we are planning to build a brand to sell the gemstones. We also want to make the consumers aware about the benefits of certification and establish transparency that will lead to consumer confidence," he added.
Shetty said the company spends 15-20 per cent of its marketing spend in India. Gemsfields is also exploring mining opportunities in Asia's third largest economy.
"We are pursuing with our mining story in India. We are in talks with four state government for exploring mining opportunities in the country," he said.
According to reports, states like Odisha, Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir and Tamil Nadu, among others, have deposits of gemstones.
Gemsfields, which acquired luxury brand Faberge in January 2013, is also planning to increase the sourcing of cut and polished coloured gemstones to 15 per cent.
"We are working towards increasing the sourcing of cut and polished coloured gems stones to 15 per cent. This will increase our total turnover to USD 500 million," Shetty said.
