Gems, jewellery exports drop 25.71% in FY21: GJEPC

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Mumbai: The overall gems and jewellery exports declined by 25.71% to Rs 1,85,952.34 crore during 2020-21, compared to the previous financial year, on account of COVID-related disruptions, industry body GJEPC said on April 12.

The gross gems and jewellery exports during 2019-20 stood at Rs 2,50,319.89 crore, according to data by the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC).

“2020-2021 was an exceptional year, yet the industry has shown resilience, adapted to the new normal and strived towards attaining recovery in exports in the second half of the year.

“Post witnessing a decline in the first three quarters, the gems and jewellery exports have witnessed a remarkable growth of 12.73 per cent in the fourth quarter,” GJEPC Chairman Colin Shah said in a statement.

Cut and polished diamonds (CPD) exports in FY21 declined by 8.87% to Rs 1,20,302.04 crore from Rs 1,32,015.25 crore in the previous financial year.

Gold jewellery exports during FY21 witnessed a decline of 57.89% to Rs 35,483.17 crore from Rs 84,270.81 crore in 2019-20. Silver jewellery exports climbed 43.55% to Rs 17,163.03 crore from Rs 11,955.75 crore in FY20.

Meanwhile, coloured gemstone exports during April 2020 to March 2021 dipped by 39.32 per cent to Rs 1,377.30 crore from Rs 2,269.69 crore in FY20.

In March, the overall exports grew by 73.98% to Rs 24,729.57 crore, compared to Rs 14,214.24 crore in March 2020. CPD exports during March went up by 117.58% to Rs 15,530.11 crore from Rs 7,137.69 crore earlier.

Similarly, gold jewellery exports in March rose 22.50% to Rs 5,505.19 crore from Rs 4,493.99 crore in the corresponding month of the previous fiscal.

“While Rough import of Diamonds stabilised post opening up, the non-availability of duty-free gold to jewellery manufacturers have sharply impacted the plain gold jewellery exports leading to a decline of around 60%.

“Improved international market demand in the third quarter owing to a robust holiday season, stimulated manufacturing across all product segments and overall gross exports,” Shah added.