In a major development, the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) and India International Jewellery Show (IIJS) announced, in the early hours of Friday, that IIJS Premiere 2021, the annual global gem and jewellery event, will now be held in Bangalore at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (BIEC), instead of Mumbai. The event will now be held between September 15 and September 19, 2021.

Making the announcement while addressing the media, Colin Shah, Chairman, GJEPC, said, “IIJS Premiere 2021 is all set to be organized in the physical form owing to universal demand from the trade and industry. It will be the first gems and jewellery show of this magnitude, post COVID-19.”

Event Details

Giving details about the event, Shailesh Sangani, Convenor, National Exhibitions, GJEPC, said, “We are expecting more than 30,000 visitors. We have already received 1275 applications, there will be 2444 booths, covering an area of 21996 sqmts. The previous event had 1228 participants, there were 2253 booths, covering an area of 20277sq mts. There will be five exhibition halls, spanning 77,200 sq mts. More than 850 companies are expected to exhibit their products, with 50 per cent of them exhibiting gold jewellery.”

Sangani went on to provide exhaustive details of the venue specifications and the precautions that will be taken in view of the pandemic. This year, there will be no on-site registration, and digital badges will be provided instead of physical cards. As Sangani said, “Your phone will be your badge.” The badges can be accessed only on the GJEPC app after the successful completion of the online registration.

This is the first time that GJEPC-IIJS will be doing an event of this magnitude in South India. Speaking on the occasion, Sabyasachi Ray, Executive Director, GJEPC, said, “The objective of GJEPC is not to do shows. It is to expand business.”

Emphasizing the importance of doing a physical show after such a long gap, Sangani added, “The venue is secondary, what is important is that a physical show is taking place finally. As for the venue change, Bangalore is as good as Mumbai in terms of infrastructure and facilities. In fact, this is a better venue, and it’s larger than the Mumbai venue.”

COVID Protocol to be Followed

GJEPC also gave details about the COVID protocols that will be followed. All attendees will be required to submit one-dose vaccine certificate compulsorily and the RTPCR report, done within 48 hours. In case attendees are double vaccinated, then the RTPCR test will not be required. Physical distance guidelines will be followed, basic safety kits, masks, sanitizers, face shields will be provided. Frequently visited areas, such as coffee booths, food courts, etc, will be sanitized more frequently.