The organisation will gather all city and district level jewellery associations under one roof.
Gold, silver, diamonds, gems and ornaments made with them are important commodities. Jewellery making is a major industry in the country. However, so far there has been no apex or umbrella organisation of jewellers in the state.
But this is set to change. To stay connected with the competitive market in this global era, jewellers of Gujarat have decided to unite on a common platform and form an apex body with the proposed name of Gujarat Jewellery Association (GJA).
The organisation will gather all city and district level jewellery associations under one roof. Two meetings of the proposed GJA have already been held and attended by bigwigs of the business. Now, work is on to complete the formalities like create a constitution, appoint office-bearers, chart out a preliminary agenda and lay down responsibilities.
Sources said the jewellers unanimously decided to appoint Zaveribhai Zaveri of Zaveri & Company as chairman of the GJA, while Natubhai Choksi, of CVM Jewellery is vice-chairman and Shantibhai Patel, a local jeweller and president of Gems and Jewellery Trade Council of India (GJTCI) is secretary.
It was premature to reveal details about the organisation. He would be able to do so only when the formalities were complete, said Zaveribhai Zaveri, a top jeweller who owns multiple shops in the state. "We have couple of issues that need to be addressed. This became instrumental in the formation of the GJA," he explained.
"We have many issues as the business is growing and we need to come together to take the industry to new heights. Hence we have decided to form an association. It will benefit all connected with the business. Apart from jewellers it will help ornament workers, designers and diamond traders," Natubhai told DNA.
There was a long-term demand of jewellers to form an apex body and now it was happening. The GJA would provide a common platform to organise exhibitions, shows, seminars and for the welfare of industry members, said Shantibhai Patel. He added that there are approximately 7,000 jewellery shops in the state and around 14 lakh people earn their livelihood from this industry.
According to market sources: "A couple of months ago jewellers got together to discuss many problems faced by the industry. They include theft and security aspects and excise duty on readymade jewellery. A few top jewellers mooted the idea of forming an umbrella body that could represent the problems of the business to government and non-government bodies."
The idea was welcomed by all and it was decided to form the GJA. The second meeting of the market leaders was organised on January 26 when they chalked out a final plan.
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