India’s most awaited, largest jewellery exhibition, India International Jewellery Show (IIJS) began today at the Bombay Exhibition Centre with a packed audience. The inauguration, along with the flag hoisting ceremony saw the attendance of this industry’s crème de la crème.

Present at the show were Chief Guest- Ashish Shelar, Minister of School Education, Sports and Youth Welfare of Maharashtra, Guests of Honor - Paul Rowley, Executive Vice President, Diamond Trading, De Beers Group & Evgeny Agureev, Director of the United Selling Organization, ALROSA, Chairman - Shri Pramod Agrawal, Vice Chairman - Colin Shah, Convener (National Exhibitions) Mansukh Kothari, Co Convener - Shri Kirit Bhansali and other dignitaries.

“It is very important that we get demand for jewellery and reach new markets. G&J industry needs to adopt world’s ever evolving ways of doing business. The trade needs to capatalise on the ongoing U.S China trade war and see how we get more business from both China and U.S.  Diamonds form the largest component of Indian G&J industry and it is going through a crisis. We recently requested De Beers to increase its marketing spends. We also had long discussion with ALROSA and requested them also to pump in more funds in marketing. The council’s main agenda is to promote small and midscale businesses. The Council has set up 4 CFCs in Gujarat and more are coming up in Coimbatore, Kolkata, Maharashtra and more,” said Pramod Agrawal, Chairman, GJEPC.

Speaking on the challenges faced by the diamond industry, Paul Rowley, Executive VP, Diamond Trading, De Beers Group, “I am very optimistic about the trade even though we are facing quite a bit of challenges. Going forward we will be spending more in marketing in U.S. and gradually other markets as well. Macroeconomic challenges are impacting businesses across the world. In my 36 years of existence in the diamond industry, I have not faced these kinds of challenges - with Brexit, US-China trade war and more! And the G&J industry has its own share of problems. But what is important is that how we tackle all of this collectively. I have always been impressed by the shared energy of this country. We have a strong domestic market for diamonds in India and I don’t think that is something we should ignore. India is perhaps the youngest country in the world right now and millennials just like all of us are in love with diamonds.”

Chief Guest, Ashish Shelar insisted on improvising skills to match international standards when it comes to jewellery. “If the responsibility of shaping and cutting the diamonds in such a way that it shines brilliantly is with the industry, ensuring that you get the right Human Resource for the same lies with the department of Education. PM Modi and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal are doing everything they can to support the trade. We are going to have a Jewellery Park here in Maharashtra and we need good Human Resource who are highly skilled to make jewellery of international standards. So, we will soon open a G&J school and university where students can hone their skills.”

With an additional Hall 7 that will have 100+ exhibitors, enhanced security and ease of entry, this year’s IIJS is expected to deliver more than what it has promised.