Jewellery park to come up near airport

Jewellery park to come up near airport

Nagesh Prabhu

Manufacturers from many countries are ready to invest in the proposed park

Park will be developed with an initial investment of Rs. 100 crore

KIADB told to acquire at least 100 acres near

the international airport

BANGALORE: The State Government has proposed to establish a jewellery park on a public-private partnership near the Bengaluru International Airport (BIA).

The Karnataka Small Scale Industries Development Corporation has written to the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) to acquire at least 100 acres near the international airport at Devanahalli.

Sources in the Industries Department told The Hindu on Monday that the jewellery park would be developed with an initial investment of Rs. 100 crore.

As the jewellery industry was export-oriented, the department was keen on having land near the airport.

A large number of jewellery manufacturers from Italy, France, U.S. and South Africa have expressed readiness to invest in the proposed park.

The growing jewellery industry, which has transformed itself from a traditional small-scale sector to a segment with tremendous potential, has driven the Industries Department to set up the park. The department had prepared a detailed project report on the park with the help of consultants. It would be developed on the lines of the Indian Diamond Institute in Surat and the Indian Institute of Jewellery in Mumbai.

As the jewellery industry required highly trained manpower and also product innovation and development, a state-of-art school of learning would be established in the park. The school would provide programmes in the form of short courses in jewellery designing, diamond grading, stone identification and cutting, polishing and examining over hundreds of diamonds, gems casting and metal embossing, an official said.

Professionals from the industry would be roped in to provide training to students and develop their skills. The school would tailor the course according to the industry’s needs, the official said.

The park would help in developing indigenous low-cost technologies for import substitution products used in the jewellery units to help the State save foreign exchange and also reduce the cost of processing.

The park would also bring awareness amongst workers about the use of modern machine concepts and quality control checks to improve productivity and efficiency, the official said.

The State exports about Rs. 8,000 crore worth gems and jewellery a year.

According to the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council, the country’s exports in 2007-08 rose to $20.89 billion from $17.1 billion in 2006-07.

The gem and jewellery sector accounted for 13.41 per cent of India’s total merchandise exports in 2007-08, the council said.