Rajasthan gem, jewellery industry lands in the rough amid labour shortage

The Rajasthan gem and jewellery market is facing an acute shortage of workers at a time when the business is picking up substantially.

In 2022–23 (FY23), Rajasthan had exported around Rs 9,470 crore worth of gems and jewellery, with the trade tally climbing to around Rs 11,180 crore in FY24.

Once a major manufacturing hub of coloured gemstone, the state’s labour shortage has led to China overtaking India in gem manufacturing with its cutting-edge technology and cheap labour, said Kailash Mittal, president of the Sarafa Traders Committee. Experts fear such a shortfall could halt the trade.

“Most of the cutting and polishing of gems in China is done through machines, which helps cut the labour cost. This has led to the work of coloured and semi-precious stones shifting to China, due to which artisans in Rajasthan are left unemployed,” Mittal said. This is pushing artisans to look for other avenues for employment, he said.

Mittal said Jaipur’s gemstone traders are also capable of manufacturing gems by installing machines, but they avoid it as mechanical cutting and polishing of gems lowers their quality. Instead, the traders prefer hand cutting and polishing of expensive gems.

Jewellery businessman Vikas Kothari said the Union labour ministry doesn’t consider millions engaged in the jewellery industry as labourers. There has been a long-standing demand to register the workers associated with this trade as labourers. Due to the unavailability of a labour diary, workers aren’t able to get the benefits of labour-related schemes laid down by the Centre and states.

About 10 million workers are directly or indirectly associated with this trade across the country, claims Kothari. Most of the work of cutting and polishing precious jewels is done in Jaipur, Surat, and Navsari. Kolkata is a big centre for the manufacture of gold jewellery.