Gold jewellery exports rise to 108% between April 2014 and January 2015

Gold jewellery exports rose to 108 per cent at Rs 30,523 crore between April 2014 and January 2015 compared to Rs 14,619 crore during the same period in previous year as per data generated by Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), says a report.

This surge in the exports can be attributed to relaxation by the government in import duty policy and recovery in demand from major consuming countries like US, Russia, UAE, Hong Kong and east Asian countries, adds a report.

However, the export from special economic zones (SEZs) and SEEPZ SEZ in Mumbai witness fall of 17 per cent at Rs 19,305 crore compared to Rs 23,255 crore in corresponding period previous year.

Further the report adds that GJEPC data has showed that India exported $8 billion worth of gold jewellery in 2013-14. Between April 2014 and January 2015, the gold jewellery exports have already crossed $8 billion and the coming two months will add another $2 billion to the export basket, taking the total export at $10 billion by March 2015.

Exports of gold jewellery fell by more than half last year due to non-availability of the precious metal after the government tied the import of gold to exports. Government had also raised the import duty to a record 10 per cent.