2020: NOT A GREAT YEAR FOR JEWELLERS IN JAIPUR

2020: NOT A GREAT YEAR FOR JEWELLERS IN JAIPUR Jaipur is one of the most famous tourist destinations in India, owing to its rich history and culture. Jaipur is the capital of Rajasthan, a state whose name literally means, “The land of kings”. Rajasthan has seen a numerous number of rulers in the past, and Sawai Jai Singh was one such ruler, after whom the city Jaipur was named. Sawai Jai Singh was the founder of Jaipur, and he built the city with the help of architects, making Jaipur one of the first planned city in the history of India. This ancient architecture is what attracts millions of tourists from around the world to Jaipur. But, architecture is not the only thing Jaipur is famous for.

Being the city of Royals, it also has a rich history of jewellery as well. The traditional jewellery designs and culture are still alive in this city, and some of the jewellers in Jaipur​ are even direct descendants of the king’s jewellers, which is why you can find some quality craftsmanship in Jaipur when it comes to jewellery, making it a hotspot for jewellery lovers.

But recently, the condition for jewellers in Jaipur is looking bleak, and there are a couple of reasons for that.

BUDGET 2020 Jaipur jewellery industry has suffered a big blow with the release of The Union Budget 2020. The Jaipur jewellery industry was already suffering after the budget for 2019 was released, and this year, their problems are only going to increase.

The Union Budget 2019, increased the import duty on gold and silver from 10% to 12.5%. Gold and silver make up almost 95-97% of the total Jewellery business in Jaipur.

The industry, after suffering heavily from demonetization, had to go through another significant setback in the form of GST. Due to GST, the tax on the Gems and Jewellery was increased from 13% to 15.5%, which decreased the demand in the market. After going through these setbacks, the Jewellers in Jaipur demanded relief measures with Budget 2020. But, instead of listening to their demands, it seems that the Government wants to increase their troubles even more. The GoI, instead of decreasing the import duty on Gold and Silver, imposed a 0.5% import duty on uncut coloured stones as well. What this means is that the prices for jewellery with semi-precious stones are going to increase, thus reducing its demand in the market.

A reduction in local demand is not the only issue the industry will have to face. An increase in import duty means that the jewellers will be forced to increase their export prices in the international market, thus making it even more difficult for them to compete with exporters like China and Hong Kong.

COVID-19 As If the jewellers already did not have enough problems for them, they got another one in the form of a global pandemic. Covid-19 has affected almost everyone in the entire world, and Jaipur Jewellery Industry is no exception. Since the Government have imposed lockdown and markets are not allowed to open, the Jewellery Industry, which relies mostly on the brick and mortar stores, is poorly affected. The jewellers were already having a bad enough year for them to close down their only source of income as well. The condition is so bad that a Jaipur jeweller, Hukumchand Soni, has started selling vegetables instead of jewellery in his shop. But again, it is something one cannot complain about, as the whole world is going through the same.