NEW DELHI: Billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla-led Aditya Birla Group is all set to enter the branded jewellery market with the launch of Novel Jewels on July 26, almost a year after it first announced its intention to foray into this consumer-facing business. This would be Birla’s second big debut into a new vertical after it entered the paint business with Birla Opus earlier in March.
Birla will now be competing in a market that has a strong presence of other conglomerates such as Tata Group-owned Tanishq and Reliance Jewels. The other big players in the organized market are Kalyan Jewellers, Malabar Gold, Joyalukkas Jewellers and Senco Gold. In June 2023, the Group had announced its entry into the branded jewellery retail business.
Backed by an investment of Rs. 5,000 crores, this new venture is called ‘Novel Jewels’. Novel has aims to build large exclusive jewellery stores featuring in-house jewellery brands across India. In the paint business, Birla had committed an investment of Rs 10,000 at the time of launch.
Currently, the jewellery industry stands as one of the largest in India, contributing 7% to the nation’s GDP. Aditya Birla Group had earlier said that with India’s jewellery industry projected to reach $100 billion by 2027, this presents an opportunity for them to be ‘big in the life’ of consumers and transform the way India purchases its fashionable jewellery.
For decades, India’s jewellery landscape has been dominated by the unorganised sector, primarily consisting of local standalone jewellery stores. However, this trend is undergoing a radical shift in favour of national branded jewellery chains. From constituting a mere 5% of the jewellery market in 2005, branded players now make up an impressive 35% of the market.