First gold jewellery CFC launches in Rajkot

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Jun 9, 2021

On Monday, the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council opened its first gold jewellery Common Facility Centre in Rajkot, Gujarat to provide small-scale jewellery manufacturers with cheap, state-of-the-art technology.

 
Now operational, Rajkot’s CFC for Gold Jewellery Manufacturing is designed to give small jewellery businesses in the region an opportunity to use machinery and technology they would not otherwise have access to and to learn new skills to ameliorate their products. Access to new technologies will also enable Rajkot’s jewellers to increase their output and is part of the GJEPC’s wider plan to make India more competitive in the international jewellery market. 
 
“GJEPC is hopeful that the Rajkot CFC will lead to a transformation of the local industry and take it to greater heights,” said GJEPC chairman Colin Shah.

“The penetration of revolutionary technology in this region through the CFC will benefit jewellery manufacturing units in nearby locations like Surendranagar, Morbi, Jasdan, and Junagadh.”
 
The CFC was conceptualised and implemented by the GJEPC and was fully funded by the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The 2,300-square-foot CFC will offer services including computer aided design software for jewellery design, laser soldering, gold purity analysis, refining, and laser marking among other services. 
 
In phase one of the scheme, the GJEPC opened four CFCs for the diamond industry in Gujarat. The Rajkot CFC is the first dedicated to gold jewellery and its location was chosen as Rajkot city houses over 15,000 jewellery units. The centre will be run by local trade association, Jewellery Cluster Federation Rajkot.