The Gems and Jewellery Skill Council of India (GJEPC) is planning to train over four million persons till 2022 as the sector is facing shortage of skilled manpower.

The industry lost nearly 400,000 skilled manpower post economic recession in 2008, out of which, an estimated half returned while the remaining half migrated to other industries including textile and agriculture farming. The GJEPC has formed a separate skill council for overall enhancement of skills in factory workers across the industry. The council aims to train, skill and enhance 4.07 million people by 2022. The council will join hands with the existing training institutes including Gemological Institute of America (GIA) and Indian Gemological Institute (IGI), along with setting up of new institutes in major diamond cutting and processing centres, GJEPC said in a statement here.

An international training institutes such as GIA are now offering internationally recognised Graduate Diamonds (GD) Diploma programme in Mumbai, a major consumer market for gems and jewellery and home to many well-known jewellery brands.

"Changing customer requirements are increasingly creating a need for a more highly skilled workforce," All India Gems & Jewellery Trade Federation Chairman Haresh Soni said.

However, there is a growing gap in skill availability as the skill development process in the fragmented parts of the industry is primarily achieved through an apprenticeship model and on-the-job training. This leads to longer training time and gaps in the availability of modern jewellery manufacturing and diamond cutting and polishing skills, he said.