Budget 2024 expectations: GJEPC advocates import duty cuts, licensing reforms for gems & jewellery sector
Also Read: Budget 2024 brew: Alcobev players pitch for uniform tax, excise duty cuts; ENA price relief, input tax credit hold key The Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), representing India’s global gem & jewellery trade, has proposed several recommendations to the government ahead of the upcoming budget. “Gem and Jewellery exports have been facing a challenging time on account of the economic downturn in key export markets, geo-political concerns, supply and demand side constraints in the global diamond industry, and unavailability of precious metal in the country among others.
GJEPC’s pre-budget proposals will facilitate easy access to raw materials for the industry, especially for MSMEs," said Vipul Shah, Chairman, GJEPC. Here are some of the key recommendations made by GJEPC for the Budget 2024-2025: GJEPC has urged the Government to consider its long pending demand of the sale of rough diamonds in Special Notified Zones (SNZs) through the Safe Harbour Rule and to expand the ambit of entities entitled to operate through SNZs.
It is estimated that a total of 60% of the rough diamonds traded through auctions in the world and bought by Indian manufacturers could have come into India & traded. Also, an Equalisation Levy of 2% is levied when the sale of rough diamonds is done through online auctions which is an additional cost to the manufacturers.
The same can be avoided if the sale of rough diamonds starts in SNZ. “By introducing Safe harbour rule for sale of rough diamonds in Special Notified Zones (SNZs), India can become a trading hub like Dubai and Belgium and our diamond manufacturers will not have to travel abroad to get access to these trading hubs," said Shah.
Read more on livemint.com
