Mumbai's Seepz gears up to open India's first CFC for gems

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Aug 30, 2022

India’s diamond industry is preparing to open its first common facility centre for gems in Mumbai’s Seepz MIDC with the aim of enabling small and medium enterprises to access resources, research, and modern machinery.

“The DESH Act, presently going through the consultation phases of the parliamentary committee, will be critical to the SEZ ecosystem,” said Seepz Mumbai’s zonal development commissioner Shyam Jagannathan at the recent CFC conclave in Mumbai, TNN reported. “The Act will also address the issue of domestic tariff areas, ensure global competitiveness by reducing the cost inputs in terms of manufacturing, and leverage the ease of doing business in a closer conjunct with state government entities. This conclave is timely because the distilled inputs from this platform will surely ensure that it will be a game-changer for the industry.”
 
The Seepz’s joint development commissioner CPS Chauhan posited that the untapped potential of the Indian gem and jewellery industry totals around $30 billion, illustrating opportunities for large-scale growth. Chauhan urged the industry to focus on quality over quantity in order to move up the global value chain. The CFC is designed to give smaller businesses access to technology to improve the quality of their products. 

The Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council announced on its website that it is targeting $15 billion in exports from the Seepz in the coming three years. The GJEPC believes that the CFC will help to contribute to this ambitious target.