Bhupendra Patel Inaugurates the CFC in Rajkot

The First Jewellery CFC to provide access to capital-intensive state-of-the-art to SMEs

 Hon’ble Chief Minister of Gujarat Bhupendrabhai Patel, along with Dinesh Navadia, Regional Chairman, Gujarat, GJEPC inaugurated the first Common Facility Centre (CFC) for Jewellery in Rajkot on 13th May. The CFC is set up by the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) with the support of Ministry of Commerce and Industry. 

The objective of CFC is to provide access to capital-intensive state-of-the-art machinery & technology which are not in the reach of individual small & medium (SMEs) Jewellery manufacturer. 

Hon’ble Chief Minister of Gujarat Bhupendrabhai Patel said, “Like the diamond sector in Surat, we want the Rajkot to be known as the world leader in Gold and Silver Jewellery manufacturing. Rajkot has around 1.5 lacs skilled artisans engaged in Jewellery manufacturing. 

Availability of state-of-the-art machinery and technology at affordable process, would be a great morale booster for artisans here in Rajkot post the pandemic. 

This facility will help them to improve their quality and productivity, thus making them competitive when catering to world market. I am sure the contribution of Rajkot to the overall exports from Gujarat will increase in the coming years.”  

Colin Shah, Chairman, GJEPC said, “Rajkot supplies to over 50 percent of the jewellery clusters across India and is known for its exquisite craftmanship. 

The Jewellery CFC in Rajkot will help in enhancing their skill, design, process and quality of the manufactured goods. I am sure the units here in Rajkot will be able to take advantage of the opportunity provided by FTA with UAE and Australia and enhancing their contribution to overall exports of the country in a big way.” 

Dinesh Navadia, Regional Chairman, Gujarat, GJEPC said, “Setting up CFC is an attempt to empower micro, small & medium manufacturers of remote areas, with costly state-of-the-art infrastructure, at reasonable rates to reduce the cost of the finished products and make it competitive in international market. This facility will be also used to train local workforce of remote areas and tier – II cities on latest technology and techniques. This will create new set of skilled workers and create new jobs in G&J sector.” 

GJEPC had signed the MoU with the Jewellery Cluster Federation of Rajkot to set up CFC in Rajkot and to run, operate and manage the CFC once operational.

Chandresh Patadiya, President, Jewellery Cluster Federation, Rajkot said, “Rajkot city is known for gold & silver ornaments. The new facility (CFC) will be an added advantage to SME industry here in Rajkot to scale their business to markets beyond India. 

Jewellery Cluster Federation has been assigned a responsible work and we will try and deliver best services at affordable rates in Rajkot with best quality. I would request the G&J industry of Rajkot to support us and make maximum use of the facility.”  

The Rajkot CFC is set up in an area of approx. 2300 sq ft carpet area and interior work with state-of-art set up, surveillance system, cloud based software and monitoring system. 

The machinery installed at the Rajkot CFC include Jewellery Design, CAM (RPT), Laser CNC (yet to arrive), Gold Purity Analysis (XRF), Laser soldering, Laser Marking, Weighing Balance, Refining, Wire & Pipe faceting (yet to arrive). Other infrastructure and support facility include, CCTV camera, Fire fighting system, Access control system etc., Computer and internet facility, Strong room with safes, conference room, Receipt - Delivery & waiting area, Pantry & Toilet blocks, Back office area, Record room & Locker room, Centre head & Production head cabins. 

The goldsmith and artisans of Rajkot meticulously design some of the most exquisite wedding jewellery which is famous all over the world.

In Rajkot, Artisans engaged in Jewellery manufacturing activities are mainly Gujarati and Bengali community. Rajkot is very well known for the Plain Gold Jewellery manufacturing and Silver Jewellery manufacturing. 

Approximately, 50,000 artisans are engaged in Plain Gold Jewellery manufacturing and approximately 1.00 lacs artisans are engaged in Silver Jewellery manufacturing. 

Jewellery manufacturing activities and jewellery retailing activities are mainly concentrated in Soni Bazar area. Jewellery manufacturing activities are undertaken by small/medium jewellery workshops along with the support of the allied service provider such as die making, cad service provider, gold refining etc.  

Average yearly production of Hand made plain gold jewellery in Rajkot is approximately 150 Tons. There were more than 15000 units which operated on order basis. In Rajkot, almost all the types of Jewellery are manufactured including Plain Gold, Silver, Diamond studded. Apart from these, In Rajkot, Jewellery machinery manufacturer are also located in industrial area.