Exporters on Thursday demanded fiscal incentives, tweaking in customs duties on certain products and credit at affordable rates in the forthcoming Budget to boost exports and create jobs. In a pre-budget virtual meeting with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) said the depreciation of the rupee against the US dollar is affecting exports' competitiveness and the sector requires more support. "Creation of employment is the biggest challenge faced by the country...We would urge the government to provide fiscal support to units which provide additional employment in the export sector," the exporter's body said.
India has offered African countries --Botswana, Angola, South Africa and Namibia, incentives to strengthen their jewellery industry in return for direct procurement of rough diamonds from these countries.
India's direct import of roughs was $767 million from Russia in 2013, a little less than five per cent of India's total import of roughs.
Post global slowdown scenario, Surat's diamond industry is gaining momentum in demand from the domestic, international and emerging markets like China, industry sources said today.
As Wal-Mart's disclosures on lobbying generated political heat in India, records with American House of Representatives show that around 27 Indian companies have spent money on lobbying in the US.
The industry body has issued two advisories in an attempt to restore jewellers credibility in the wake of the Rs 12,000-crore PNB-Nirav Modi scam, and recent defaults by two domestic jewellers - Goodwin and Rasiklal.
Some jewellers kept their shops shut in Mumbai as well.
Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat on Saturday asked the gem and jewellery exporters to create brand India image by improving product quality with the use of latest manufacturing technology.
The exports have shown a fall of 6% during the first 11 months of fiscal 2006-07.
Twelve of the 22 Indian diamond traders, detained in China on charges of smuggling, returned home early on Friday after they were let off following deportation orders by a Chinese court. "We are happy that 12 diamond traders held in China returned to India late last night. We are making all efforts to bring back the remaining traders," Gems & Jewellery Export Promotion Council Chairman Rajiv Jain said.
Surat Diamond Association, the apex body of diamond industry in Ahmedabad, has said there should be a special force for the security of diamond industry in the wake of serial blasts in Mumbai.
The decline in gold imports has helped in narrowing the country's trade deficit to $106.84 billion during the eight-month period under review as against $133.74 billion in the year-ago months.
India processes around 90% of the world's supply of rough diamonds.
After contracting for six months in a row, the country's exports grew by 5.27 per cent to $27.4 billion in September, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked exporters to prepare a strategy for the next five years and start working in that direction.
Janhvi meets her fans... Shah Rukh Khan makes a rare airport appearance... Akshay promotes Raksha Bandhan.
The US is the largest consumer of gems and jewellery in the world contributing nearly 40 per cent of global production. If India can tap the opportunity, its overall exports to the US could jump by 10 per cent to $ 11 billion this year.
India's exports contracted 12.2 per cent to $34.48 billion in December 2022, mainly due to global headwinds, and the trade deficit widened to $23.76 billion during the same period, according to official data released on Monday. Imports in December 2022 also declined 3.5 per cent to $58.24 billion as against $60.33 billion in the year-ago period. In December 2021, exports stood at $39.27 billion and the trade deficit was at $21.06 billion.
Aiming at rough diamond imports of $1 billion annually, Diamond India Ltd, a grouping of 60 traders, is looking at markets other than Russia to scale up its imports.
The country's Rs 60,000-crore (Rs 600-billion) diamond industry is likely to lay off 200,000 workers this year and with it the dream of making India a processing hub, according to Sanjay Kothari, chairman, Gems & Jewellery Exports Promotion Council, if the government does not frame favourable policies.
The group has called for a retaliatory tariff action against India, if New Delhi does not roll back the 'unilateral and discriminatory' equalisation levy or Google Tax.
India imports gold worth $26 bn in Apr-Dec period.
The spotlight is back on the hawala trade in diamonds.
Dhanteras has cheered up jewellers as it has turned out to be the best in three years, thanks to the lower price of the yellow metal and pent-up demand. In Mumbai's Zaveri bazaar, buyers came in out force and jewellers did not have to depend on freebies to induce sales, even though all of them had announced some offers. In fact, more discounts were announced for diamond and studded jewellery.
Two entities under the Union ministry of commerce report differing figures for import of cut and polished diamonds for the first eight months of the financial year.
Diamond industry expects revenues to drop by 20-25% in the current financial year.
Round-tipping creates the opportunity for exporters to source funds at a much cheaper cost, which they divert to some other business.
After recording positive growth in September, India's exports declined 5.4 per cent to $24.82 billion in October on account of dip in shipments of petroleum products, gems and jewellery, leather, and engineering goods. Trade deficit in October narrowed to $8.78 billion as against $11.76 billion, as imports also fell 11.56 per cent to $33.6 billion during the month under review.
Import segments which recorded negative growth include gold, silver, transport equipment, coal, fertiliser, machinery and machine tools. However, exports of oil seeds, coffee, rice, tobacco, spices, pharma, and chemicals reported positive growth in June.
Precious ornaments are estimated to become 3% costlier under GST
The Surat diamond industry is likely to face a loss of around Rs 8,000 crores in next two months as Hong Kong, which is a major export destination, has declared a state of emergency due to the coronavirus outbreak in China, say experts. Hong Kong is a major business hub for the Surat diamond industry, but schools and colleges have been closed there till the first week of March and even businesses are seeing a dip in view of the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.
So far, rough diamonds mined from the Panna mines in Madhya Pradesh were auctioned online but displayed only at Panna.
Most of the jewellers who had reopened their showrooms in confusion on Monday, kept shutters down today at Mumbai's Zaveri Bazar and several other places, demanding rollback of the proposal.
Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, last month urged small traders to compete with foreign retail chains through e-commerce.
Indian diamantaires are looking to go slow on rough diamond purchase during the remaining quarters of the current financial year, thanks to weak global sentiment.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances