New Delhi, Nov 27 (KNN) The Gems & Jewellery industry needs to re-think, re-orient & re-design its practices and processes to become self-reliant which will lead to further progress, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday.

While addressing CII's Digital Gems & Jewellery Conference on Self-Reliance in Jewellery: Mining, Manufacturing & Markets, the union minister said that Gem & Jewellery sector, through its consciousness about quality & price competitiveness, has been able to penetrate markets of USA, UAE, Russia, Singapore, Hong Kong, etc, and India is today well recognised the world over for its gem & jewellery sector, for the- charm they bring to products - cost effectiveness - conscientious work.

He said that the Covid pandemic tested the country’s resolve and the Gems and jewellery sector had taken a big hit. But, he added, that the recent exports and domestic figures of the sector show that the industry has used innovation, ingenuity and adoption to the new normal, to make a comeback. The industry has shown its ability to face the problem in a resolute manner.

“Our gems & jewellery industry has a mindset which is contemporary in nature, which adopts with changing time and leverages our strengths across the world. If we built upon our integrity, I have no doubt that we'll be able to expand our markets & meet the world's needs from India. This will involve adopting technology, innovation & skill development”, he added.

Assuring the industry you of complete support of the Government in their efforts to achieve the pinnacle of success & the industry's rightful place in global trade & in India, the union minister specifically pointed out that the government is happy to deliberate with industry to see how MSMEs can be supported in the sector.

“Majority of players in the Gems & Jewellery sector are MSMEs. We need to come forward to augment their efforts in marketing, packaging logistic & access to low-cost finance. This can be done with joint participation & active involvement of associations from gems & jewellery industry. With the joint participation, we can support MSMEs in the sector”, he added.

The Minister said that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said, "Time has come for India to make in India but make for the world." He said that this is where partnership between Govt, industry associations, exporters & international organisations can work towards making India hub of this business worldwide.

“In this new normal, we have the potential to engage with the world in a bigger way & improve our advantages in this sector”, he added. He called the sector to adopt state of the art technologies, focus on skill development and upgradation, and attaining scale of production, so as to become the major player in the world market.

The union minster emphasised on enhancing quality and productivity, saying that the message of India's commitment to quality & high productivity in different sectors should be taken forward. He suggested that the sector next month may organize events like workshops, symposiums, webinars etc to propagate the message among the various stakeholders.

Reiterating the important role of the sector in the economy, the union minister said that the sector contributes about 7.5% of the country’s GDP, 14% to the nation’s exports and provides employment to over 5 million people.

He said that the India International Jewellery show which was held virtually on the digital platform for the first time was itself a very big demonstration of our industry's ability to face any adversity.

The union minister said that various suggestions of the sector on duties, SEZs, refund of taxes, logistics, financing etc. are being looked into. He called upon the industry to deliberate on the steps that can help in checking the leakages, orderly behaviour of the sector, and ushering in the liberalization.