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T3 Diamonds founder Tshepo Molusi told Rough & Polished’s Mathew Nyaungwa at the inaugural South Africa Diamond Show in Cape Town that the shop opened an opportunity for diamond manufacturers under the incubation to export their products to China. He...

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Nosiphiwo Mzamo: South Africa’s State Diamond Trader to buy diamonds from other African countries

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Edahn Golan: Halo effect from lab-grown diamonds driving high demand for large, 2-carat natural stones in the U.S.

Edahn Golan, owner of the eponymous Edahn Golan Diamond Research and Data, told Rough & Polished's Mathew Nyaungwa in an exclusive interview that their research found a halo effect from lab-grown diamonds. He said the trend among lab-grown diamond...

27 january 2025

Paul Zimnisky: We will see a modest recovery in natural diamond demand and prices in 2025

According to Paul Zimnisky, an independent diamond and jewellery analyst and consultant based in the New York metro area, the natural diamond industry will see a modest recovery in demand and prices this year. Zimnisky said a moderate recovery would...

13 january 2025

African Diamond Council makes traceability its top priority, wants KP to embrace Authentia.io

The African Diamond Council (ADC) has made traceability its foremost priority and has been contributing to a traceability solution called Authentia.io for the last three and a half years, which is now ready to globally satisfy the traceability...

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GJC seeks customs duty reduction in the pre-budget recommendations

30 january 2024

All India Gem & Jewellery Domestic Council (GJC), a national apex body for the gems & jewellery industry, have urged the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to withdraw the Basic Customs Duty on gold and also GST on the gems & jewellery industry.

In 2022, the Basic Customs Duty (BCD) on the import of gold was increased from 7.5% to 12.5% ad valorem. This takes the total tax incidence to 18.45% on the imported gold. The reasons for the hike in BCD, as publicly available, seem to indicate concerns in relation to the Current Account Deficit (‘CAD’) and the impact that the import of gold has on the CAD.

Mr Saiyam Mehra, Chairman of GJC, stated, “The jewellery industry contributes nearly 7% of India’s GDP and hence, deserves a pro-business environment. This will also benefit the Government. We urge the Finance Ministry to withdraw the increase in BCD on gold in the upcoming Union Budget and a rationalized tax structure may be developed to tackle CAD issue. "

"A majority of consumers in Rural India buy Gold as an Investment for the future. They sell gold in case of a medical emergency. Hence, the daily purchase limit needs to be increased to Rs 100,000 per day."

Mr Rajesh Rokde, Vice Chairman of GJC, said, “There is an urgent need to revamp the Gold Monetisation Scheme (GMS) to attract more investment as this scheme The government must expand the number of bank branches to accept gold deposits under the GMS. Consumers in rural India consider the purchase of gold as a safe investment which is normally monetized in the urgent needs such as medical emergency or education purposes."

Additionally, GJC has also recommended the facility of EMI to be restored to the Gems and jewellery industry as allowed a few years ago which will lead to substantial growth of the business of the industry and also promote digital payments in the industry.The majority of the Gems and jewellery sector falls under the MSME category and availing of loans has become a key concern for the jewellers, with the rise in gold price.

Aruna Gaitonde, Editor in Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough&Polished