India Gem and Jewelry Exports to Pass $10 Billion in 2004
March 28, 04India gem and jewelry exports will exceed $10 billion in the 2003-04 fiscal year from the $9.1 billion achieved in the last fiscal year, according to Gems and Jewelry Export Promotion Council Chairman Sanjay Kothari.
Kothari told an exports seminar in Mumbai that the Indian industry was also on track to reach an ambitious target of $16 billion in exports by 2007.
Kothari said the council aimed to make India the global jewelry manufacturing and trading center. India currently exports 85 percent of the world's cut and polished diamonds.
About one million people are employed in the diamond and jewelry industries and India has the potential to provide work for another one million, Kothari said.