“The jewelry industry has welcomed a stable government with great enthusiasm and hopes that the stability will translate into some positive action for the industry during the budget.”

In order to boost the recession-hit industry Hayagriv has a long list of considerations for the Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to mull over. Hayagriv hopes that lawmakers will bring down the gold loans rate to 2-3% pa. He further wishes that the government removes or abolishes excise duty both on branded and unbranded jewelry.

Hayagriv added, “The jewelry fraternity is expecting the government to take steps for a hassle-free transit of jewelry in the country by issuing smart cards.(a kind of chip-embedded identity card)” He further anticipated a government policy which would allow the GJF to import gold including scrap gold and bullion and amend rules to make hallmarking mandatory across the industry.

According to Hayagriv the ideal budget for gems & jewelry sector would be one where the GJF was vested with powers to import gold and also allocate funds for national marketing and infra development initiatives.