New Delhi: The Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), a body under the Indian government, and the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) signed a draft agreement granting possession of land for a period of 95 years for setting up an ‘India Jewellery Park’, in Mumbai Wednesday.
The project is aimed at setting up an integrated gem and jewellery industrial park with manufacturing units, commercial areas, residences for industrial workers, and commercial support services. “It will provide effective support to jewellery manufacturers and traders who are interested in expanding in the state of Maharashtra to initiate new business or strengthen their existing ventures,” the GJEPC said in a statement.
This comes nearly a month after the government sanctioned Rs 70 crore for a mega Common Facility Centre (CFC) in Mumbai, meant to act as the “nucleus” for India’s gems and jewellery sector.
The jewellery park is envisaged to house more than 1,000 gems and jewellery units on a 21.3-acre plot of land in Mahape, Navi Mumbai.
Attracting investment of over Rs 20,000 crore
The park is expected to attract investment of over Rs 20,000 crore, as well as create jobs for over one lakh workers, according to Colin Shah, chairman, GJEPC.
“The India Jewellery Park in Mumbai will augment the jewellery manufacturing ecosystem in the state, complemented by ease of doing business, thereby evolving it into a preferred destination for global manufacturers and investors. It will contribute to economic development of Maharashtra and India by attracting investments of over Rs 20,000 crore and create employment opportunities for over 1 lakh workers,” he added.
The project will also include developing low-cost residential facilities for workers in the vicinity and providing them with training and upskilling facilities.
“We are extremely glad that the India Jewellery Park, the first-of-its-kind jewellery manufacturing set-up, is based in Maharashtra. We would be happy to work along with GJEPC, offering them all the support in early completion of this project. We will make sure that India Jewellery Park gets all the incentives that are offered to other such Ultra Mega Projects, such as increased FSI, power tariff subsidy, stamp duty exemption, low-cost housing, etc,” said Dr P. Anbalagan, IAS – CEO, MIDC.
Commenting on the facilities that will be offered at IJPM, Vipul Shah, vice-chairman, GJEPC, said, “Gold loss has been a great concern for our manufacturers and artisans and the India Jewellery Park, with state-of-the-art machinery and infrastructure, would help reduce the gold loss ratio from 10 to 3 per cent. The gold dust can be recovered easily by suction and drainage systems. We can aim to become zero-loss manufacturers, which can save up to 40 tonnes of gold annually.”
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