Trade pact with UAE bearing fruits for Indian jewellery exporters

New Delhi [India], January 10 (ANI): Trade agreements with UAE and most recently with Australia are working in favour of Indian gem and jewellery exports.
Post the India-UAE trade pact, India's plain gold jewellery exports for the period during the three quarters of 2022-23 (April-December), grew 21 per cent to Rs 24,242.91 crore, The Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) data showed.
For the month of December 2022, the total gross export of plain gold jewellery grew over 21 per cent to Rs 2,369.74 crore as compared to Rs 1,953.46 crore for the same month last year.
The trade agreement with UAE entered into force on May 1. The Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) came into force on December 29, 2022.
Further, during April-December 2022, the overall gross exports of gems and jewellery witnessed a growth of 6.28 per cent to Rs 227,534.50 crore (declined 0.73 per cent in dollar terms to USD 28,608.22 million) as compared to Rs 214,087.94 crore (USD 28,819.88 million) for the same period last year.
In December 2022, the overall gem and jewellery exports witnessed an 11.25 per cent decline to Rs 19,432.88 crore (18.90 per cent in dollar terms to USD 2,356.70 million) as compared to Rs 21,896.46 crore (USD 2,905.79 million) last year.
"The overall exports of gem & jewellery during April-December 2022 show a positive trend but December export figures reflect the global headwinds faced by the gem and jewellery industry in terms of inflation and talk of a downturn in the USA," said Vipul Shah, Chairman of The Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC).
However, Shah said it is the credit of the Indian gem and jewellery exporters that they could perform even in this challenging environment.
"The commissioning of India-UAE CEPA has resulted in exponential growth in exports of plain gold jewellery to make up for the gap in exports to key markets such as the U.S. and Hong Kong," Shah added. (ANI)