Home » Indian Exim Policy » Exim Policy 2001-2002 » Diamond, Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Schemes

Exporters of gem and jewellery are eligible to import their inputs by obtaining Replenishment (REP) Licences and Diamond Imprest Licences from the licensing authorities in accordance with the procedure specified in this behalf.

The exporters of gem and jewellery products listed in Appendix 30-A of the shall be eligible for grant of Replenishment Licences at the rate and for the items mentioned in the said Appendix to import and replenish their inputs. Exports through third party are also admissible for REP Licences. The exports made in fulfillment of export obligation against Diamond Imprest Licences shall not qualify for this benefit. Replenishment licence may also be issued for import of consumables or for plain/studded jewellery as per the details given in paragraph 8.88 of Handbook (Vol.1).

Diamond Imprest Licence may be issued, in advance, for import of rough diamonds from any source. Diamond Imprest Licence for import of cut & polished diamonds for mixing with cut & polished diamonds or for export as it is, may also be issued for export of cut & polished diamonds. Such licences shall carry an export obligation which has to be discharged in accordance with the procedure specified in this behalf.

An exporter may apply for a licence for import of rough diamonds:

Equal to the best export performance of cut and polished diamonds in the licensing year during the preceding three licensing years, if he has a minimum of three licensing year of export performance.

Against a valid export order in his own name. An exporter of cut & polished diamonds who is status holder may also be issued a licence for import of cut & polished diamonds upto 5% of the export performance of the preceding year of cut & polished diamonds.

The export obligation against each consignment shall be fulfilled within a period of five months from the date of clearance of such consignment through Customs. Exports made from the date of receipt of an application under this scheme by the licensing authority may be accepted towards discharge of export obligation. However, at no point of time, the importer shall be required to maintain records of individual import consignments nor will they be required to co-relate export consignments with the corresponding import consignments towards fulfillment of export obligation.

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Bulk licences for rough diamonds are issued for import of rough diamonds from any source, with an obligation to supply such diamonds to the holder of valid REP/Diamond Imprest Licence, EOU/EPZ units or to re-export the same. The supply/export of such rough diamonds shall be completed within a period of 12 months from the date of issuance of licence or within a period of three months from the date of import, whichever is later.

The eligibility to apply for Bulk Licence is prescribed in the Handbook (Vol.1).

If the eligible person is a limited company registered under the Companies Act, its 100% owned subsidiary may apply for the Bulk Licence in lieu of the eligible person.

Private /Public Bonded Warehouses may be set up in EPZ/DTA for import and re-export of cut & Polished diamonds, cut & polished coloured gemstones, import and re-export of rough diamonds, uncut & unset precious & semi-precious stones and DTA sales of rough diamonds, uncut & unset precious & semi-precious stones against REP/GEM REP/Diamond Imprest licences subject to payment of customs duty wherever applicable; notwithstanding anything contained in paragraph 9.21 of Exim Policy. These private/public bonded warehouse for selling rough diamonds, uncut & unset precious & semi-precious stones in DTA shall follow the procedure given in paragraph 8.24 and 8.25 of Handbook (Vol.1). Import & re-export of cut & polished diamonds & cut & polished coloured gemstones will be subject to achievement of minimum value addition of 5%.

Firms and companies dealing in the purchase/sale of rough or cut and polished diamonds/diamond studded jewellery with a track record of at least 3 years in import or export of diamonds/ diamond studded jewellery and having an average annual turnover of Rs. 5 crore or above during preceding three licensing years may also carry out their business through designated Diamond Dollar Accounts. The Diamond Dollar Account Scheme shall operate under the current licensing scheme of this chapter. This scheme shall be optional and those importers/exporters who wish to continue to use Rupee Accounts shall be allowed to do so under the existing policies. Dollars in such accounts available from bank finance and/or export proceeds shall be used only for (i) import/purchase of rough diamonds from overseas/local sources, (ii) purchase of cut and polished diamonds from local sources, (iii) import/purchase of gold from overseas/nominated agencies and repayment of dollar loans from the bank and (iv) transfer to the Rupee Account of the exporter. Details of this Diamond Dollar Accounts Scheme (DDAS) are given in the Handbook (Vol.1). The procedure outlined in the Handbook (Vol.1) shall also apply to diamond studded jewellery.

A non DDA holder is also permitted to supply cut and polished diamonds to DDA holder, receive payment in dollars and convert same into rupees within the period of 7 days and the cut and polished diamonds so supplied by non-DDA holder will also be counted towards the discharge of his export obligation and/or entitled him to replenishment licence as the case may be.

Gems and Jewellery exporters with a track record of at least three years and having an annual average turnover of Rs. 5 crores and above during the preceding three licensing years may be permitted to export cut & polished diamonds each weighing 0.50 of a carat and above, for the purpose of certification/grading reports by the laboratories/agencies like Gemological Institute of America (GIA), The Robert Mouawad Campus, International Gemmological Institute (IGI) and European Gemological Laboratory(EGL) in USA, Hoge Raad voor Diamand, Antwerp, (HRD), World Diamond Centre of Diamonds High Council, Antwerp, Belgium with a condition that the same should be re-imported with the certificate/grading reports from the agencies without any import duty at the time of re-import.

At the time of export of cut and polished diamonds for certification/grading, exporter should give an undertaking to the customs that the cut and polished diamonds will be re-imported within three months of exports for certification/grading. The export invoice should clearly indicate the estimated value, height, circumference, weight of each diamond to be exported for certification/ grading so that at the time of their import, the above specification could be compared with the original ones to establish their identity. Subsequently these cut and polished diamonds would be exported as per the provisions of the Policy.

Exporters of gold/silver/platinum jewellery and articles thereof may import their essential inputs such as gold, silver, platinum, mountings, findings, rough gems, precious and semi-precious stones, synthetic stones and unprocessed pearls etc. in accordance with the procedure specified in this behalf.

The exporter availing the schemes of gold/silver/platinum jewellery and articles thereof may obtain gold/silver/platinum from the nominated agencies. The nominated agencies are MMTC Ltd, Handicraft and Handloom Export Corporation (HHEC), State Trading Corporation (STC), The Project and Equipment Corporation of India Ltd (PEC) and any agency authorised by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) a bank authorised by RBI is allowed export of gold scrap for refining and import in the form of standard gold bars.

The following items, if exported, would be eligible for the facilities under these schemes:

Gold jewellery, including partly processed jewellery and any articles including medallions and coins (excluding the coins of the nature of legal tender), whether plain or studded, containing gold of 8 carats and above;

Silver jewellery including partly processed jewellery and any articles including medallions and coins (excluding the coins of the nature of legal tender and any engineering goods) containing more than 50% silver by weight;

Platinum jewellery including partly processed jewellery and any articles including medallions and coins (excluding the coins of the nature of legal tender and any engineering goods) containing more than 50% platinum by weight.

The value addition will be as given in Handbook (Vol.1).

Under the schemes for gold/silver/platinum jewellery, the wastage or manufacturing loss shall be admissible as specified in the Handbook (Vol.1).

Where export orders are placed on the nominated agencies/ status holder/ exporters of three years standing having an annual average turnover of Rs. Five Crores during the preceding three licensing years, the foreign buyer may supply to the nominated Agencies/ status holder/exporter, in advance and free of charge, gold/silver/platinum, alloys, findings and mountings of gold/ silver/platinum for manufacture and export. The exports may be made by the nominated agencies directly or through their associates or by the status holder/exporter as the case may be. The import and export of findings shall be on net to net basis. The foreign buyer may also supply to the nominated agencies/status holder/ exporter in advance and free of charge plain, semi finished gold/silver/platinum jewellery including findings/ mountings/ components for repairs/re-make and export subject to minimum value addition of 10%. However, if the so imported semi finished gold/silver /platinum jewellery is exported as studded jewellery, value addition of 15% shall be achieved. In such cases of export, wastage of 2% may be permitted. The procedures in this regard shall be as prescribed in the Handbook (Vol.1)

The nominated agencies and their associates, with the approval of Ministry of Commerce, and others, with the approval of Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), may export gold/silver/platinum jewellery and articles thereof for holding/ participating in exhibitions abroad. Personal carriage of gold/silver/platinum jewellery, precious, semi-precious stones, beads and articles and export of branded jewellery is also permitted. These exports shall be subject to the conditions as given in the Handbook (Vol.1):

The exporter may obtain the gold/silver/platinum as an input for export products from nominated agencies in advance or as replenishment after exports in accordance with the procedure specified in this behalf.

A quantity based Advance Licence may be granted for the duty free import of:

Such licences shall carry an export obligation which will be required to be fulfilled in accordance with the procedure specified in this behalf.

The advance licence holder may obtain gold/silver/platinum from the nominated agencies in lieu of direct import in accordance with the procedure specified in this behalf.

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An exporter is eligible for freely transferable Replenishment (REP) Licence at the rate of 87% of the FOB value of exports of plain gold/ platinum jewellery and articles thereof, and 80% of the FOB value of export of studded gold/platinum jewellery and articles thereof. Besides, the exporter will be eligible for freely transferable Replenishment (REP) Licence at the rate of 70% of the FOB value of exports of plain silver jewellery and articles thereof, and 65% of the FOB value of export of studded silver jewellery and articles thereof. Such REP licences are valid for import of items as given in .

Gem Replenishment (Gem REP) Licence may be issued under the schemes for export of gold/silver/platinum jewellery and articles thereof as given in paragraph 8.19, 8.20, 8.22 and 8.23 of the Policy. In the case of plain gold/silver/platinum jewellery and articles, the value of such licences shall be determined with reference to the realisation in excess of the prescribed minimum value addition. In the case of studded gold/silver/platinum jewellery and articles thereof, the value of Gem Replenishment Licence shall be determined by taking into account the value of studdings used in items exported, after accounting for the value addition on gold/silver/platinum including admissible wastage. Such Gem REP licences shall be freely transferable.

The scale of replenishment and the item of import will be as prescribed in Appendix 30-B of Handbook (Vol.1).

Personal carriage of gems and jewellery export parcels by foreign bound passengers and personal carriage of gems & jewellery import parcels by an Indian importer/foreign national may be permitted as per the conditions given in Handbook (Vol.1).