India’s Gold Market Reform and growth; the report, published by the World Gold Council; noted that, during the last few years the Indian gold market has grappled with numerous changes, both in the regulatory environment and in the behaviour of consumers.
And looking ahead, gold jewellery demand faces further challenges, particularly from changing demographics as younger generations of consumers are tempted by other products, be that different styles of jewellery or luxury fashion accessories.
Gold jewellery demand has, however, remained resilient in India despite all these factors. And it will likely benefit from strong economic growth and further urbanisation as per capita income rises and the number of middleclass consumers increases.
In the row one more reform introduced for Jewellery exports via e-commerce. Indeed it’s a big positive for the industry. In June 2022, the government legalised jewellery exports through e-commerce platforms. The new rules allow jewellery exports through a courier service, but only after receipt of full payment and with exhaustive evidence of the product being uploaded on the customs system: namely, photos of the export jewellery, product package/outer covering, product listing on the e-commerce platform and the hallmarking certificate.
Re-imports of physically damaged or defective jewellery exported via a courier are permitted, subject to criteria to prevent misuse. These criteria include conditions that the product must be returned through the same platform and using the same mode.
In addition, the return e-commerce transaction for the jewellery should have been initiated by the same consignee to whom the jewellery was exported, and the total number of returns for the exporter must not exceed 5% of the total number of shipping bills in the same financial year. Given the scope of global e-commerce, this should effectively open new markets for Indian exporters. Even small-sized firms will now be able to increase their exports by selling via e-commerce platforms.