Strike effect: Artisans shift to imitation jewellery

Faced with the prospect of joblessness, many migrated from gold and silver jewellery to making imitation jewellery.

Many gold and diamond jewellery artisans have shifted to doing imitation pieces in the past one month as a prolonged strike in the sector has raised fears of job security and steady income.

Gold, silver and diamond jewellery industry had gone on an indefinite strike on March 1, following an announcement of one per cent excise duty on jewellery in the Budget by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. The strike, which was on for more than a month, had started raising concerns among artisans of uncertain work flow and steady income. Instead of choosing to stay idle till the strike was over, many migrated from gold and silver jewellery making to the imitation-jewellery industry.

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“Getting work in precious metals is not an easy task,” said Nagendra Mehta, secretary of Imitation Jewellery Manufacturer’s Association (IJMA). “People do not easily trust artisans. Moreover, remuneration is not fixed as it depends on the amount of work they get. In imitation jewellery, the flow of work is higher than in precious metals, which tends to offer a secure and steady income. This led to a migration of artisans to our industry.”

Currently, out of the 2.5 million artisans active in the imitation jewellery industry, 40-45 per cent of the artisans are from the precious metals segment. The art work is mostly similar in both, making it easy to shift verticals.

Narendra Mehta, president of Rajkot Jewellery Association, said, “Designs and art works are almost same in imitation and precious metals jewellery making. This makes it easy and quick for artisans to settle down.”

Apparently, despite the recent announcement in the Budget of a one per cent excise duty on gold coupled with a levy of 10 per cent import duty, precious metals jewellery is still considered competitive.

This is because imitation jewellery attracts one per cent to five per cent value-added tax (VAT) in some states, along with a six per cent excise duty.

However, imitation jewellery industry score over precious metals in pricing. For instance, a gold ring would conservatively cost Rs 5,000-7,000, while an imitation ring of the same art or design work would cost around Rs 1,000. The imitation jewellery industry has also been demanding a reduction in excise duty to one per cent for some time.

Within the industry, Rajkot is known for casting or machine made imitation jewellery with more than 450,000 artisans, while Mumbai is the largest hub for handmade imitation jewellery.

Narendra Mehta said, “In the past couple of years, gold and silver jewellery industry has faced several issues such as strikes and price rise in metals. Many artisans of precious metals have entered the imitation jewellery market due to strikes in February and March this year.”