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Mr Vinod Hayagriv

Swetha Kannan

Bangalore, May 18 The All India Gem and Jewellery Trade Federation is targeting for 2013 a 50 per cent growth in the retail turnover of the domestic jewellery industry, which is currently worth Rs 1,12,000 crore.

Mr Vinod Hayagriv, Chairman of the Federation, said, “We plan to achieve this by building consumer confidence through the development of uniform gold pricing across cities and States, by joint promotion programmes and joint advertising campaigns together with Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council, Rio Tinto (a multinational mining and exploration company), the World Gold Council, and others. We need all these agencies to actually work together — it is in everyone’s interest to grow the industry.” The marketing budget for the promotions planned this year by manufacturers and retailers in the industry will be around Rs 30 crore.

The gem and jewellery industry, which has been affected by the global slowdown, is hoping for a fruitful year ahead. The current situation is good with higher footfalls and less “recession fears,” said Mr Hayagriv, who took over recently as chairman of the Federation for 2009-2011. The industry, which has seen an impact of 20-30 per cent, should achieve 15 per cent growth this year, he added. “We expect the industry to grow at 15-18 per cent per annum in the next few years.”

For these tough times, Mr Hayagriv stressed on educational programmes for front-line staff, increasing consumer confidence, and taking best practices from around the world, such as China and Hong Kong.

The Federation has a plan of action to revive the industry. Through a store certification programme called Trustmark, it hopes to bring to jewellers across the country organised management principles and quality control measures. It proposes to “work closely with government and institutions to increase educational programmes and ensure training and development to employees across the country, organise and give recognition to the industry by developing a smart card programme.”

To increase profitability and productivity through the induction of a skilled workforce, the Federation will organise seminars and workshops to develop the skills of artisans. The Trustmark programme also emphasises fair pricing for creative artisans.

At the recent annual general body meeting of the Federation in Mumbai, a resolution to make the trade body a National Council under the aegis of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry was passed. “The rationale behind this is to develop systems in the industry and bring all the players on a single platform and giving recognition to the industry. And, more importantly, make sizeable investments in the trade infrastructure. China is a prime example and we will soon present a paper to the Ministry,” said Mr Hayagriv, who is also Managing Director of C. Krishniah Chetty & Sons, a Bangalore-based jewellery retailer.

More Stories on : Promotions & Offers | Gems & Jewellery

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