(Press Release) MUMBAI — The Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) announced the appointment of Colin Shah as its chairman. Colin Shah will take over the role from outgoing Chairman Pramod Kumar Agrawal, who is completing his term.
Also, Vipul Shah has been elected and appointed as vice chairman of GJEPC.
The new management will take charge starting June 23 and will have a tenure of two years. Colin Shah is the current vice chairman of GJEPC. Vipul Shah has been elected unanimously by the gems and jewelry export members.
Prior to this appointment, Colin Shah served as member of the Committee of Administration for the period 2012-2015 and Vipul Shah served as chairman of GJEPC for the same period.
The other key appointments in the CoA for the term 2020-22 based on the elections held include:
- Ashok Gajera (Regional Chairman-West)
- Prakash Pincha (Regional Chairman-East)
- Nirmal Bardiya (Regional Chairman-Rajasthan)
- Dinesh Navadiya (Regional Chairman-Gujarat)
- Mahender Tayal (Regional Chairman-South)
- Ashok Seth (Regional Chairman-North)
- Sanjay Shah, Dilip Shah, Milan Chokshi, Russell Mehta, Sanju Kothari, Chirag Lakhi, Anil Virani, Manish Jiwani in Diamond Panel
- Shailesh Sangani, K Srinivasan, Mansukh Kothari, Suvankar Sen in Gold Jewelry & Other Precious Metals Jewelry Panel
- Mahendra Agarwal and Vijay Kedia in Colored Gem Stones & Pearls Panel
- Ram Babu Gupta in Silver Panel
- Badrinarayanan Gupta in Sales to Foreign Tourist Panel
GJEPC is the apex body for the gems and jewelry trade in India, under the aegis of Ministry of Commerce, Government of India.
Commenting on his appointment to GJEPC chairman, Colin Shah said, “The new term at GJEPC starts amidst acute uncertainties due to the ongoing COVID 19 crisis in India and world over. It demands a paradigm shift for the industry. The Council is focusing towards recalibrating itself by digitalisation across verticals, exploring new ways of reaching customers and unconventional ways of creating demand for gems and jewellery. We are fortunate to have a very strong team representing every segment of our industry. We are confident that we all will work closely with the industry and the government, especially the Ministry of Commerce and industry, to give Indian gems and jewellery market a competitive edge in the world market.”
He continued, “Favourable policy measures for improving ease of doing business, availability of bank finance, fostering MSMEs, leveraging e-commerce for trade and business are some of the immediate concerns we would like to address.
“We will collectively turn adversity into opportunity and act with conviction and speed.”
Vipul Shah, vice chairman of GJEPC, said, “It is a privilege to be associated with GJEPC. India has come a long way to achieve the status of global leader in gems and jewellery exports business.
There are tremendous growth opportunities for Indian jewellery exports and the industry will stand together to complete the vision of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to create an Atmanirbhar Bharat by upgrading domestic manufacturing capabilities to substitute imports and make India the most flourishing global hub of jewellery exports in the next five years.”
He added, “The current environment is extremely challenging for the Indian gems and jewellery exports. However we are optimistic that the global consumption will pick-up in the second half of this year and global trade will witness upward trend.
“Bank finance in the gems and jewellery sector, skill enhancement of craftsman and karigars, gold monetisation etc are some of the recurring issues faced by the industry that needs to be addressed on priority.”
GJEPC has made several representations and recommendations to the Government of India to boost gems and jewellery exports and is hopeful that the government will take some positive trade measures soon. Council congratulates the Government and the Ministry of Finance for announcing the Rs 20 lakh crores stimulus package.