Today, June 25th, GJEPC Chairman Vipul Shah attended Hon’ble Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman‘s pre-budget consultation, which included discussions with several business executives. The meeting was attended by Presidents and Chairmen of organizations such as NASSCOM, AIFISPA, FIEO, MPEDA, AEPC, CLE, and presidents of state Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
During the meeting, Vipul Shah, Chairman of the GJEPC, thanked the Hon’ble Finance Minister for his unwavering support and stated that diamond exports account for 50% of all gem and jewellery exports. He observed a 30% reduction in exports last fiscal year and a 15% decline so far this year.
He then presented the following policy recommendations to improve the sector’s exports:
- Introducing a Safe Harbor regulation in the SNZs
- Eliminating the equalization levy for rough diamonds
- Introducing the Diamond Imprest License.
- Introducing tariff drawbacks on exports of platinum jewellery.
The Hon’ble Finance Minister questioned about the platinum duty drawback, stating that it was a fresh proposal and that the government will look into it.
FM went on to say that industry associations should engage with state governments in the same way that the Centre does in order to proactively solve industry challenges, which the Centre is doing through a consultation process. According to the FM, multiple GST issues cannot be resolved without such an agreement between the state and central governments.