GJ Town India

  Eye to ease pressure on export chains: GJEPC    The Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) has warmly welcomed the GST reforms announced at the 56th GST Council meeting held on 3rd September in New Delhi under the chairpersonship of Hon’ble Union Finance & Corporate Affairs Minister, Smt Nirmala Sitharaman.    The rationalisation of GST rates across multiple sectors reflects the Government’s commitment to stimulating domestic demand, easing cost pressures, and enhancing the competitiveness of Indian industry. For the diamonds and jewellery sector, the reforms bring significant relief.    The Council’s decision to exempt imports of natural cut and polished diamonds up to 25 cents under the Diamond Imprest Authorisation Scheme (DIAS) from IGST (previously 18%) will ease working capital pressures and support manufacturers and exporters engaged in small-diamond processing.  In addition, the reduction of GST on jewellery...

  WGC & Linklaters Consulting unveils Wholesale Digital Gold   The World Gold Council (WGC), Linklaters and Hilltop Walk Consulting have unveiled a pioneering vision to transform the global gold market through the introduction of Wholesale Digital Gold—a transformative concept that will enhance how gold is owned, traded, and utilised.   In today’s wholesale market, gold trades are settled in two main structures. The first is allocated gold which involves direct ownership of specific physical bars but is operationally complex; and the second is unallocated gold, which has higher liquidity and lower costs, but may expose investors to the credit risk of the institution where the account is held. Following on from the FMSB’s Precious Metals Spotlight Reviews1, and in consultation with key industry participants; we propose a new way to settle gold, bridging the gap between these two structures. Pooled Gold Interests (PGI) combines the best of both worlds by provid...

  Headed by Vaishali Banerjee, reported a comprehensive look   With fewer than eight weeks to go to the opening of the 2025 CIBJO Congress in Paris, France, on October 27, 2025, the third of the pre-congress Special Reports has been released. Prepared by the CIBJO Precious Metals Commission, headed by Vaishali Banerjee, the report provides a comprehensive look at the gold, platinum, palladium and silver markets, considering supply, demand, pricing and the instilling of principles related to sustainability and ESG.    “In a world marked by economic divergence, inflation uncertainty, and geopolitical flux, precious metals – led by gold – continued to assert their relevance, not just as financial safe havens but as vital industrial assets and cultural touchstones,” writes Banerjee.   The dramatic rise of the gold price in 2025, which peaked at $3,500 per ounce on April 22, was a key factor, deciding policy not only on its own investment markets, but al...

  Gem Diamonds recovered 47125 carats in Half Year 2025    Gem Diamonds Limited, announces its Half Year Results for the six months ended 30 June 2025. According to the Letšeng mine operational results, Gem Diamonds recovered 47 125 carats (H1 2024: 55 873 carats) show a tumbling recovery year over year! Average price of US$1 008 per carat achieved (H1 2024: US$1 366 per carat). The highest dollar per carat achieved for a white rough diamond during the Period was US$26 441 per carat.    Taking into account the prevailing market conditions, current diamond prices and exchange rates, the recoverable amount of Letšeng was assessed at Period end and an impairment of US$10.7 million was recorded to bring the carrying value in line with the recoverable amount. The impairment was allocated to goodwill which is now fully impaired.  In a response to market conditions, Gem Diamonds said, as reported in the trading update published on 23 July 2025, Gem Diamond...

  Successful viewing with the sharing of 209 buyers    Okavango Diamond Company [ODC] from Botswana completed the viewing session of Rough Diamonds in India Diamond Trading Centre [IDTC, situated within Bharat Diamond Bourse. The viewing was highly successful with over 94 Diamond companies and 209 potential buyers viewing quality rough diamonds from ODC.    A strong enthusiasm among buyers was the highlight of the viewing session encouraging the ODC team to continue such viewing sessions in the near future. Mehul Shah, Vice President, Bharat Diamond Bourse and Director, IDTC responded saying “We just witnessed a remarkable response from participants for the ODC viewing session in IDTC and this perhaps would motivate a greater number of mining entities from across the world to make IDTC an important platform for viewing rough diamonds.    Direct viewing, sessions will also help ‘direct sale’ to manufacturers and will help mining entities such as...

  Investment drives gold demand Q2 value a US$132bn!     Recently, World Gold Council published their Gold Demand Trends Q2 2025 report.  The report said about, Investment drives gold demand in Q2 demand value rockets to a record US$132bn! Total Q2 gold demand (inclusive of OTC investment) increased by 3% y/y to 1,249t. In value terms, total gold demand jumped 45% y/y to US$132bn.   A second consecutive quarter of hefty demand for global gold-backed ETFs was instrumental in boosting overall Q2 demand. Uncertain global trade policy, geopolitical turbulence and the rising gold price all fuelled inflows.  Bar and coin investors also joined the fray, attracted by the rising price and gold’s safe-haven attributes. Two consecutive quarters generated the strongest first half for bar and coin investment since 2013. Central banks remained a key pillar of global demand, adding 166t to global official gold reserves. Although the pace of buying moderated, the outl...

  The uncertainty made investment hard in long-term solutions   Talking about Tariffs, Rapaport said, diamond prices fell in many categories in August as the US tariffs impacted demand for Indian goods. Prices of rounds weakened, though fancies were stable. Deep uncertainty dampened sentiment. US retail and wholesale were steady.   The RapNet Diamond Index (RAPI) for 1-carat goods reflecting round, D to H, IF to VS2 diamonds — fell 1.1% in August. The index for 0.30- and 0.50-carat stones declined 3.8% and 3.9% respectively. Larger stones continued to outperform smaller items, with the 3-carat RAPI increasing 0.4%.    US President Donald Trump implemented 25% duties on Indian goods from August 1 and 50% from August 27. Goods already in America became more desirable than those overseas. The gap in asking prices between US- and India-located inventory on RapNet grew to around 16% in 1-carat commercial goods, from the usual 10% to 12%. The differential ...