Gems-Jewellery Export Promotion Council chairman said – Import duty on gold-silver, platinum should be reduced

Vipul Shah, chairman of the Gems-Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), believes that many announcements can be made in the budget-2023 in the interest of the gems and jewelry sector. Currently, the rate of import duty on gold, silver and platinum is high. Due to this smuggling is increasing. Exporters' working capital of more than Rs 500 crore also gets stuck.
According to Vipul, if the government reduces the import duty to 4%, it will be of great benefit. Exporters will be able to use more than half of the working capital. Apart from this, we are hopeful that the government will allow the sale of rough diamonds through the Special Notified Zone (SNZ).
This will enable Indian SMEs to deal directly with international mining companies. The role of middlemen will be eliminated and at least 20% of rough diamonds supplied worldwide can shift to India's SNZ. Due to this, the government can also earn an additional income of Rs 28-30 crore annually. GJEPC is hopeful that the government will reintroduce the Diamond Imprest License. This will allow diamond exporters to take advantage of the beneficial policies of African mining companies.
Lab-grown diamonds are expected to account for more than 10% of global gems-jewellery exports by 2025. India can get benefit from this. We have appealed to the government to make the import duty on the seed used in Lab Grown Diamond (LGD) zero. With this, like natural diamond processing, India can also become a leader in lab-made diamonds.