US attack takes shine out of gems export

JAYA BASU

NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 18: With the recent terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, gem and jewellry exports to the USA is expected to take a severe beating.

The chairman of Gem and Jewellry Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) Sanjay A Kothari said that “usually the industry picks up in the last quarter of year so the business is likely to be affected with.

However, the real impact will be known only after a month or so but we are not very hopeful.” He said that “so far we have not received any cancellation of orders but no new orders have come to us whereas this is the peak season.” The gem and jewellry export to US has already shown a negative growth of 1.6 per cent in fiscal 2000-01 in comparison to 28.23 per cent growth rate in the year 1999-2000. Though its share in the India’s total export basket to the US also came down to 29.87 per cent in 2000-01 from 34.39 per cent in 1999-2000, it still topped the list of India’s overall exports to US. Between April to June this year, the overall export of gem and jewellry export declined by 15 per cent to $ 1446.71 million from $ 1709 million in the corresponding period last year.

The attacks in US have hit India’s regional gem and jewellry hubs like Surat and Jaipur severely. Jaipur is the leading gem export center in the country with the US alone accounting for nearly half of the Rs 900 crore annual exports from here and this was the peak business season for the traders here too. Surat is India’s biggest diamond cutting centre and is suffering without any order bookings.

The secretary of Jaipur Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that “If tension escalates in the next fortnight, there will be recession caused by delay in exports and cancellations leading to a direct loss of nearly Rs 100 crore to Jaipur exporters alone.