Gems, jewellery exports drop 10.25% in August

India's gems and jewellery exports dropped 10.25 per cent year-on-year to $2.8 billion in August, due to inadequate availability of gold.

In August last year, these exports stood at $3.1 billion, according to the data provided by Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC).

"The fall in exports of gems and jewellery exports is mainly because of shortage of raw-material for jewellery manufacturing. This was because the government had taken various steps to curb gold imports," GJEPC Chairman Vipul Shah told PTI.

India is the largest importer of gold, which is mainly utilised to meet the demands of the jewellery industry.

In August 2013, the exports of gold medallions and coins and gold jewellery have witnessed a sharp decline of 99 per cent and about 47 per cent, respectively.

However, exports of coloured gemstones saw a robust growth of 101.4 per cent and silver jewellery about 68 per cent during the period under review.

The major markets for India's jewellery exports are the US, Europe, Middle-East, Hong Kong and Japan.

During April-August 2013, the gems and jewellery exports declined 13.4 per cent year-on-year to $13.8 billion.

Seeking to reduce the import of gold, the Reserve Bank had prohibited inward shipment of gold coins, medallions and dores without license.

The government had said that from now onwards, import of gold in the form of coins and medallions is prohibited and henceforth all import of gold in any form or purity shall be subject to a licence issued by DGFT prescribing 20-80 scheme.

Also, on July 13, customs duty on gold, silver and platinum was hiked to 10 per cent.

The government had raised the duty on gold with a view to contain its non-essential imports, mainly responsible for spurt in Current Account Deficit (CAD) which touched at a record high of 4.8 per cent in 2012-13.