Rapaport India, the wholly-owned subsidiary of the US-based Rapaport Inc, is set to promote Indian diamonds and jewellery in the world markets for value addition and brand recognition.
Set up a year ago in Mumbai in association with the Gemological Institute of America for grading and certifying gems and gold jewellery exported from India, Rapaport plans to rope in major players in the domestic market to move up the value chain and enter the retail segment, worldwide.
The GIA gem trade laboratory is internationally recognised as the hallmark for grading the carat value of diamonds and their standardization.
Rapaport will process and certify the export and import of the precious goods from India to global markets.
"In spite of having a 2-million strong highly skilled workforce in the gems and jewellery industry -- including 1 million engaged exclusively in export production -- India continues to produce inexpensive and low-quality polished or cut diamonds," Rapaport founder Martin Rapaport told rediff.com in Bangalore on Tuesday.
"In view of its immense potential, the industry should move up the value chain to produce designer products for entering the multi-billion retail market," he said.
In the $60-billion global gems and jewellery market, the share of rough diamonds is $10 billion, and polished diamonds is $13 billion, whereas the retail market is around $37 billion, and growing by 10 per cent annually.
"With such vast resources and expertise in the sector, the Indian gems and jewellery players should not be content with just cutting and polishing the products for their global clients. Instead, they should now graduate into leading designers and market their own products globally," Rapaport said.
Referring to the efforts of leading Indian exporters -- such as the Mumbai-based Nakshatra, and the Bangalore-based Tanishq and Ganjam -- in marketing their products individually, Rapaport said the time was ripe for promoting them as an Indian brand with their unique design and finishing to meet the expectations of up-market customers in the US, Europe, and the Middle East.
"Armed with the GIA certification and a measure of standardisation, Indian companies can position themselves on par with their global peers to penetrate the booming retail sector by promoting their designer products under the country's brand," Rapaport affirmed.
The Indian skilled workforce is not only economic, but also competitive compared to any other cutting center the world over. To capitalise on this, the major players must invest in the latest technologies for stepping up the production and train their workforce to migrate from manual labor to the state-of-the-art machines.
"The Gems & Jewellery Export Promotion Council, the all-India apex body, representing over 7,000 traders across the country, should pro-actively promote India as a major destination for designer and finished products," he said.
"There is more money in value addition than in merely cutting and polishing diamonds for exports," Rapaport asserted.
Cautioning the Indian diamond and jewellery industry on the competitive threat posed by a combative Chinese industry, Rapaport said the US and European customers were yearning for high-quality designer products, which the latter were able to tap with aggressive promotion and savvy marketing.
During the first quarter (April-June) of the current fiscal year (2003-04), the Indian gem and jewellery industry witnessed a growth of 3.85 per cent in exports over the corresponding period of the last fiscal (2002-03), generating $1.8 billion (Rs 890 crore).
At the same time, gold jewellery marked an impressive growth of 16.77 per cent with exports increasing to $234.94 million during the first quarter under review from $201.20 million a year ago.