Ahead of the interim Budget, the Gems and Jewelery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) has urged the government to reduce import duty on gold and cut and polished diamonds (CPD) to help the sector remain globally competitive. The Government of India will present the interim budget on 1 February. This budget will be the last budget of the second term of the Modi government. There is a possibility of some big announcements for the jewelery industry. Let us tell you that India's gems and jewelery industry is dependent on imports for raw materials including gold, diamonds, silver and colored gems.
Demand to increase import duty to 4 percent
GJEPC is demanding reduction in import duty on precious metals from the current 15 percent to four percent. In this, there has been a demand to reduce the customs duty on CPD from the current five percent to 2.5 percent. The body urged the government to revive diamond imprest licenses and cut import duty. GJEPC said it will provide diamond exporters belonging to Indian Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) a level playing field with their larger counterparts. This will prevent diamond traders from investing in diamond mining destinations and will provide more employment in factories in diamond sorting and rough diamond processing.
Government will have to pay attention
The Council has urged the Government to consider the long pending demand for sale of rough diamonds in Special Notified Zones (SNZ) through the Safe Harbor Rule and expand the scope of entities eligible to operate through the SNZ. Currently, only demonstration sessions are organized by mining countries in the SNZ. The Council also urged that the SNZ should also be allowed to function as a Free Trade Storage Zone (FTWZ) when it is not used by foreign mining companies and units.
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