New Delhi: Top jewelry The country’s retailers share mixed reactions to union budget 2023 announced today by the Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman.
She announced a base price increase customs duty on articles made from silver dore bar and Yellow bar. As an impact, gold, silver and diamonds are expected to be more expensive.
While applauding the well-balanced Budget, the All India Gems and Jewelery Domestic Council (GJC) in a statement said, “..the important concerns of the Gems & Jewelry Industry are not being addressed. addressed in the Union Budget 2023-24.”
“The reduction of Customs Taxes on gold in this Budget is our great expectation, which has severely hampered the industry and encouraged smuggling and the black market,” the statement added. Thailand making dore silver bars subject to customs duties on par with gold and platinum will adversely affect the masses.
While saying they need to clearly analyze the impact of the proposals made in the budget, MP Ahammed, President, Malabar Group (Malabar Gold & Diamonds) said, “For the industry, we expect will reduce customs duties in gold. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Instead of reducing taxes on gold, FM chose to increase taxes on silver.”
Prime Minister Modi also praised the Union Budget 2023-24 saying: “This year’s budget infuses new energy into India’s development trajectory. “
The Gem & Jewelery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) welcomes the move to increase the duty on gold/silver and platinum items from 20% to 25%. However, they say they are clarifying import duties on the findings as raw materials for the production of jewelry. Commenting on the streamlining of import tax on silver, GJEPC said it would have a net impact from an increase of about 5% in import tax on silver leading to an increase in the price of domestic silver products.
Contrary to the above view, Suvankar Sen, MD & CEO, Senco Gold & Diamonds said that the increase in customs duty will not affect its sales. He added, “The impact of the 2023 budget will have a negligible impact on those who are making gold jewelry in India itself.”
Sen explained that dore imports account for a smaller percentage of total gold imports. Since only the dore tax increased by 2.5%, that could affect the business of local refineries. Furthermore, he added that the import tax on jewelry has been increased, which again will not affect Senco and most of the jewelry industry as members do not import gold jewelry. .
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today presented the Union Budget for the fiscal year 2023-24. Presenting its fifth budget, FM announced taxpayer relief, customs amendments and startup support policies.
Ramesh Kalyanaraman, managing director – Kalyan Jewelers shares the same thoughts and says: “The increase in import duty on silver will not have a significant impact on us as our main focus is on jewelry made of silver. gold, diamonds and other precious stones. “
Welcome notice of artificial diamonds in the lab
Finance Minister Sitharaman announced a reduction of the basic customs duty on seeds used to produce lab-grown diamonds to 0% from 5%. She also said that a Research & Development grant will be provided to one of the IITs for 5 years.
GJEPC welcomed the announcement and added that it will secure India’s end-to-end world leadership in the manufacturing of lab-grown jewelry and diamonds from rough to finished. .
On the other hand, GJC said that while R&D funding will be provided to one of the IITs to develop the Lab Grown Diamond machines and seeds, other areas of the industry have been overlooked.
Without commenting on lab-grown diamonds, Amit Pratihari, Vice President of De Beers Forevermark said that for natural diamonds, the brand has seen an encouraging trend over the past few months in prices. both are stable. He added: “As customers continue to appreciate what is natural and authentic, diamonds will always be in demand.
After three years battling many challenges posed by the pandemic, India’s 2023 Union Budget inspires hope for a better year ahead, especially for young Indian entrepreneurs. .
