India's Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, during a visit to Mumbai on December 18, 2021, laid the foundation stone for a Mega Common Facility Centre for Gem and Jewellery sector, at Mumbai's Santacruz Electronic Export Processing Zone (SEEPZ) Special Economic Zone (SEZ). As per reports, the Mega CFC is a dream project worth INR 70 crore and would be an epicentre of skill training and an important business facilitation centre situated in the heart of the country’s significant manufacturing centre for gems and jewellery.
It is being said that it will be one of two such facilities which will provide cutting-edge technology for manufacturing and other allied processes of the gem and jewellery sector. The other centre is located at Surat. Moreover, officials at the Centre will also provide skill and training support to build a competent workforce.
Data reveals that the Indian gems and jewellery industry has the largest skilled workforce of 4.5 million as on date, and taking a note of the same, Minister Goyal expressed the hope that the work of revamp of SEEPZ would lead to a gradual reconstruction of entire SEEPZ in next three to five years. Meanwhile, he also urged the industry and SEEPZ to work in tandem to accomplish this and added the officials must make SEEPZ world-class once again.
“The gem and jewellery sector has power, promise and potential to truly realise the dream of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It's time now to make this gem and jewellery sector in India a truly global champion, reflecting India's promise, capabilities and trust," he said by further adding that support will be offered to reach the outstanding export numbers that GJEPC aims to achieve.
Sharing his thought, GJEPC Chairman, Colin Shah, said that the inaugurated mega CFC at SEEPZ will redefine the future of the G&J industry. “Currently the SEEPZ contributes around USD 3 billion to our total gem and jewellery exports annually, but with better infrastructure and technology, the SEEPZ definitely can contribute to exports of USD 7 billion to USD 10 billion annually,” he said.
Meanwhile, other authorities shared that the mega CFC will give a fillip to small manufacturers to scale up their quality of production and this, in turn, will further contribute substantially to the exports of the country. It will also provide common manufacturing processes and related services to jewellery units. This will not only help to reduce the cost of production in a big way but also lead to the transfer of know-how amongst these units, thereby providing a competitive advantage to them.
As per plans, the new facility will provide access to a common pool of high-end capital-intensive state-of-art machines along with a wide spectrum of ancillary services such as CAD CAM, electroplating, fire assaying, manufacturing and 3D metal printing, along with providing consultancy, R&D and training.
Share
Tweet
