Jewellery exports glitter with 33.5% growth in May

India's gems and jewellery exports registered a robust growth of 33.5% year-on-year to $3.7 billion in May, on the back of rising demand from markets like the UAE and the US.

The exports during the corresponding period in 2010-11, fiscal stood at $2.7 billion, according to the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) data.

The council is upbeat about the exports' growth in the 2011-12 fiscal.

"Exporters are receiving good number of orders for our products from markets like the UAE, the US and Hong Kong. We expect the exports to grow 10-15% in the current fiscal as compared to the last fiscal," GJEPC Chairman Rajiv Jain said.

The UAE accounts for about 30% of the country's total gems and jewellery exports, followed by the US (25%) and Europe (20%).

As per the GJEPC data, exports of gold medallions and coins saw the maximum growth of 77% year-on-year in May, followed by silver jewellery (56%), gold jewellery (26.5%) and cut and polished diamonds (23.5%).

In the first two months of this year, the gems and jewellery exports jumped by 18.2% to $6.9 billion compared to the same period last fiscal.

During 2010-11, the shipments grew 15.34% to $33.54 billion compared to the previous fiscal, according to the figures provided by the Commerce Ministry.

To reduce dependence on the West, the exporters are also exploring new markets like Russia, Latin America and Africa.