India's gem & jewellery exports slip 2% in May to $2.05bn as gold supply tightens, duty hike bites
May exports fell 2% YoY to $2.05bn (though up 9% in rupee terms to ₹19,574 cr). Plain gold jewellery shipments collapsed 40% to $636mn and gold consumption dropped 21% to 11 tonnes. GJEPC flagged the 15% import duty, supply shortages and unrevised duty drawback as squeezing exporter margins. Lab-grown diamonds bucked the trend, up 26%.
What happened
GJEPC · India's gem and jewellery exports fell 2% in May to $2.05bn on gold supply shortage, higher import duty and weak demand. Plain gold jewellery exports
Key facts
- $2.05bn May exports -2% YoY
- ₹19,574 cr +9% INR
- imports -16% to $1.41bn
- cut & polished diamonds +3% to $981mn
- lab grown diamonds +26% to $101mn
- gold jewellery -15% to $758mn
- plain gold jewellery -40% to $636mn
- gold consumption -21% to 11 tonnes
- duty hike 6% to 15%
Why this matters
Distressed plain-gold exporters squeezed by duty and drawback gaps create a buying window for consolidators with lab-grown capacity or vertically integrated bullion sourcing.