NEW DELHI: Export of gems and jewellery from India dipped by about 18.33 per cent to USD 18.09 billion during April-October due to declining prices of gold, weak global demand and a sharp rise in return of consignments.
The outbound shipments were worth USD 22.15 billion during the first seven months of last fiscal 2014-15, as per the provisional data of the Gems and Jewellery Export promotion Council (GJEPC).
Declining gold prices and global demand slowdown is the major reason for dip in exports besides increasing rejection of domestic consignments, said exporters body FIEO.
“Rejection rate of our consignments are high. We need to put special focus on skilling of people in this industry. China is the biggest competitor of India in the sector and their workforce is very skilled,” Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) Director General Ajay Sahai said.
During the 7-month period of the current fiscal, consignments worth USD 4 billion were returned as compared to USD 1.78 billion during April-October 2014.
In October, exports from this labour intensive sector contracted by about 13 per cent year-on-year to USD 3.48 billion.
