All India Gem and Jewellery Domestic Council (GJC), the apex trade body that unites manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers and exporters, announced today that it is organising the India Jewellery Shopping Festival (IJSF), the first its kind in the world, to uplift the business scenario across the industry. IDT Gemmological Laboratories Worldwide is the Title sponsor and Divine Solitaires is the Powered by Sponsor for this event.

The B2C scheme is scheduled to be organised from 12th October to 17th November 2023, while the B2B scheme is scheduled from 1st June 2023 to 31st October 2023. IJSF aims to make India a global destination for jewellery shopping. The five-week-long festival aims to promote India’s art heritage, and culture by showcasing and auctioning the best jewellery pieces for CSR activities and supporting the industry in increasing sales.

Mr Dinesh Jain, GJC Director & IJSF Convenor, said, “The objective of IJSF is to develop jewellery tourism in India and make the country a jewellery hub. This event is similar to the Dubai Festival, which attracts lots of attention from global business leaders and consumers. IJSF aims to build credibility for Indian jewellers and educate consumers about innovations.

Out of approximately 200 countries in the world, approx. only 10% are involved in jewellery manufacturing, indicating vast scope within the industry itself. With the help of the Government, we will promote jewellery tourism in India by incentivising touring packages in association with the Tourism Ministry and travel agents. We are currently in discussions with the Government regarding import duty and GST refunds for tourists at the time of departure.

This fully digitalised initiative is expected to generate sale of 12000 crores worth of jewellery during B2C and over 2.4 million consumers will be involved. We expect foreign currency revenue worth Rs 3,000 crore. GJC has planned to promote this initiative using 40% and incentivise consumers using 38% of the revenue receipts. Jewellery value chain will contribute over 100 Cr for this initiative.”

Mr Saiyam Mehra, Chairman, Chairman GJC, said “This unique and first-of-its-kind opportunity is being offered to jewellers and participants across the value chain, providing thousands of innovative and intrinsic designs for regular and occasion wear. At IJSF, jewellers will have the opportunity to attract customers to increase their sales, while consumers can take advantage of ‘never-before-seen’ designs and book their pieces for weddings and other special occasions. IJSF offers immense potential for the entire jewellery fraternity. Large industry players have shown interest in participating in this event. GJC expects the entire value chain to be part of this programme, which has significant revenue potential and can be used to promote the industry and incentivise consumers. GJC will encourage only credible jewellers with a formal business model and promote them to become organised and follow the best business practices.”

Mr. Manoj Jha, IJSF Joint Convenor, said, “We are launching a number of schemes to increase participation. Our bumper prize consist of 5 prizes of 1kg gold and a over 1000 periodical prizes of 25 grams of gold each along with assured limited edition coin with every coupon. GJC will incentivise consumers gift approx 35 Cr worth of Gift in Gold, Silver and Diamond studded jewelleries in all categories during IJSF Consumers will receive one coupon on the purchase of Rs 25,000.

The entire programme is digitally driven and fully transparent to promote digital India for both jewellers and consumers. To understand the behavioural changes in Gen-Z, it is crucial to recognize that they constitute around 65% of India’s population. Gen-Z individuals can share their experiences as they use different jewellery for different occasions, which could be used as asset-creating instead of expense-creating awareness programme.”