Shri Premkumar – Chief Secretary, Government of Maharashtra, Shri Kirtilal Doshi, Shri Bakul Mehta, Shri Rajiv Bhandari, Smt. Nirupa Bhatt, distinguished persons on the dais, ladies and gentlemen.

It’s a privilege and pleasure for me to be with you here today on this auspicious occasion of the Annual Convocation function of the Gemmological Institute of India and at the inauguration ceremony of the National Research Laboratory for Diamonds and Gemstones and the Educational Centre set up by the Gemmological Institute.

We’ve had some very articulate and knowledgeable presentations today. I would just like to cover a few points on the macro economic issues in which the Gems and Jewellery sector would fall in place.

If we look at the Exports growth in India , we would find that from the financial year 2002-03 onwards, we have been growing at a rate of roughly 20% CAG. If we look at the various sectors having high export growths, I believe that the Gems & Jewellery sector in India has been identified by us as one of the major thrust sectors, given its potentials for employment, growth and comparative advantage. With its traditional strengths of expertise, modern manufacturing infrastructure, it is no wonder that this sector has had a phenomenal growth in the last decade, with export performance rising from about US $ 5 billion in 1996-97, to roughly US $ 15 billion in 2004-05.

This Sector covers the three sub-sectors of diamonds, gold jewellery and coloured gemstones. Percentage wise the three sub-sectors in total exports have been 80%, 15% and 5% respectively. For the current year, we in collaboration with the Gems & Jewellery Export Promotion Council have fixed an export target of approximately US $ 18 billion. We do hope that we will be able to achieve this.

Overall if you look at the sector, it accounts for about 17% of our total exports and, as was mentioned earlier, the direct and indirect employment would be roughly about 4.2 million. For us, this sector along with Textiles and Clothing, in the Engineering sector the Auto Components, the Leather sector and also Food Processing, are very very important sectors from the point of view of not only dispersing employment as export growths take place, but also to look at the kind of employment it envisages, particularly for certain sections of our population which are seriously disadvantaged.

With its availability of a highly skilled workforce, branding and marketing, with a network of over 2000 offices across the world, we do believe that this Sector has a great promise. Personally, I am of the view that we should not be looking at rewards and incentives to support this Sector. But we should have a set of policies and programmes transparent for its growth. We should have programmes to neutralise duties and levies that are paid by this Sector in its export performance, which is WTO compatible and that is the way to go forward.

This morning I had a presentation from the Council, which looked at some of the major issues like a Presumptive or a Turnover Tax, which is prevalent in other parts of the world like Belgium and Israel . I think the Government must seriously look at it. There are other issues of Services Tax, particularly with respect to Brokerage and engagement of foreign consultants, which again the Government has to have a re-look. Apart from some of the other minor issues, but which are pin pricks in the daily life of this Sector, which include issues pertaining to VAT, Stamp Duty, Octroi. We also have certain new areas which are coming up, which could perhaps be called in the sectors of Non-Tariff Barriers of new regimes which are coming into place in different parts of the world. From the taxation point of view, we need to look at the reduction of taxes on imports of polished diamonds into the country.

The Gemmological Institute of India under the aegis of the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council has been rendering great service to this Sector. It is heartening to note that the pioneers of the Indian Gem Industry have come together for establishment of the National Research Centre for Diamonds and Gemstones and a Grading laboratory in Mumbai.

It is well known that our country faces stiff competition in the international market, especially from countries like China and the United Arab Emirates . In order to retain our competiveness in the world market, we should innovate in the field of design, suited to the international market and also maintain our high quality standards. The Gemmological Institute of India and the Research Centre for Diamonds and Gemstones have special relevance in ensuring quality control of diamonds and other gemstones.

We must also adopt the latest techniques of production, increase productivity and also plunge into an aggressive marketing strategy. We should also establish forward and backward linkages in this industry starting from developing stakes in mining to marketing of the cut and polished gemstones as well as jewellery.

With the problems that we may face for making available rough diamonds which are required, our industry seriously needs to look at opening up of mining opportunities in different parts of the world, including Latin America and Africa.

The issue of Consumer Confidence, Reliability and Credibility was mentioned a number of times today. It’s important for us to maintain the highest standards of quality with respect to any commodity and this is a continuing process and such objectives can only be achieved through constant improvement, innovations and Research and Development in the relevant technology. In the gem and jewellery sector particularly, keeping pace with the latest technology will help us to shine further.

All of you would be aware that in the Foreign Trade Policy we have announced a number of new measures. I don’t want to outline them, but perforce to say that continuously, from the Government’s point of view, this Sector is of primary importance to us. And again, from all points of view, Mumbai occupies a central place in the Gem and Jewellery map of India . It is our dream to see that Mumbai, as one of the leading Gem & Jewellery trading centres, becomes one of the leading Gem & Jewellery trading hubs of the world. While we, in the Government of India are clearly focussed on striving towards this direction, we are grateful to the Government of Maharashtra and the Chief Secretary for his support. I sincerely wish that jointly we would be able to work together to achieve this objective. It’s not only for gems and jewellery, but also for gold. From my point of view I would like to say that we will give our full support to the Bharat Diamond Bourse and the SEEPZ in Mumbai and to whatever other initiatives that are taken in this Sector.

I wish a bright and prosperous future to the young graduates passing out from the Gemmological Institute of India, this year. I advise them to keep themselves abreast with the latest technological developments in this field and maintain the glitter of India in this sector. It has been a privilege for me to be present here at the inauguration of the National Research Centre and the Educational Centre, today. I would like to congratulate all the institutions and agencies which have made this possible. And I wish the Gems and Jewellery Exporters’ Association and the exporters’ fraternity the best on this auspicious Vijayadashmi day.