BANGALORE: The second edition of Best of India Jewellery Show (BIJS) 2012, a consumer jewellery exhibition, is scheduled to be held from 6th to 9th April. The exhibition will display an array of exquisite daily wear and designer jewellery from leading jewellery retailers of South India. Sumesh Wadhera, Co-chairman of BIJS 2012 speaks to Vyas Sivanand about the show, the idea behind it and plans to take it to a wider audience.
When did you start BIJS? How has the event grown since then?
BIJS saw its inception in the year 2011. The Art of Jewellery and Jeweller’s Association Bengaluru (JAB) jointly initiated to organise a mega B2C consumer jewellery exhibition. The first edition of BIJS was extremely successful with close to 25,000 visitors and saw the participation of over 100 leading retailers across India spread over 150 stalls. This year, BIJS has grown with 130-plus top notch brands from across India participating. We are expecting 40,000-plus visitors.
What is the idea behind the show?
Bangalore is the fastest growing metro in India with a cosmopolitan culture and huge spending capacity. This city, which has a great mix of both sophisticated and traditional customers, has a wonderful potential for a consumer jewellery show.
The whole idea behind starting BIJS is to address a long felt need for an official B2C show under JAB’s auspices and to offer a credible platform to the jewellery trade to showcase their finest jewellery in an exhibition of impeccable standards.
What can one expect out of BIJS 2012? Can customers purchase jewellery during the event?
BIJS 2012 is much bigger. The event is intended to be a notch above conventional jewellery shows. In keeping with the high profile nature of the event, Raveena Tandon has been signed as the brand ambassador. The show is perfectly timed just before Akshaya Tritiya on April 24, and followed by the wedding season, thus presenting customers the perfect opportunity for festival purchasing.
This presents a fabulous opportunity for exhibitors to grab new customers, push their brand in the market and popularise their unique pieces of jewellery. People can not only explore and buy, but can also book their jewellery pieces which can be later delivered to them when they desire.
Are you looking at such events in other parts of the country?
On the lines of BIJS, we have recently acquired another B2C Jewellery show called HITEX International Gems & Jewellery Exposition (HIGJE) scheduled from 20 to 22nd July in Hyderabad. This would be the largest exposition of its kind in South India. We are also planning to take this B2C show to other parts of South India like Mysore, Chennai, Cochin and Coimbatore in the near future.
How has the recent budget impacted the jewellery industry and the consumer?
Keeping in mind the present scenario of the industry, the state government has reduce the VAT from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. This has fulfilled the one year long pending demand of the industry. But the recent union budget has been tough on the industry with increase in import duty of gold and imposition of excise duty. Nevertheless, due to industry and political pressure, few days ago the Finance Minister has announced to roll back excise duty on jewellery and raise the TDS limit from Rs 2 lakhs to `5 lakhs and we are all eagerly awaiting for the final notification.