TIRUCHY: The import duty hike on synthetic gemstone from 7.5 per cent to 15 per cent announced in Union Budget has created a level-playing field for Chinese synthetic stone and 'Tiruchy kallu' or Tiruchy synthetic stone. Though this is great news for merchants planning to resume production of Tiruchy kallu, industry sources are saying that more needs to be done to restore the past glory of the city's iconic gemstone.
For instance, a merchant producing a high-quality 'Tiruchy kallu' might be selling it at Rs 5 to a jeweller. But, China might offer the jeweller a similar stone at Rs 4.50. This would make the jeweller, who would normally need 20,000 or one lakh stones at a time, go for the chinese stone.
Though, the tax hike has brought the 'Tiruchy kallu' and Chinese synthetic stone to almost the same price, merchants say that China will continue to dominate the country's gem market as our merchants cannot compete with their mass production capacity.
"We can recapture the market only if we start mass production of the synthetic stone," says MR Venugopal, president, All India Synthetic Gems Manufacturers, and Dealers Association.
Gem merchants have already emphasised the need for mass production to the Prime Minister's Office and the Centre has already taken this matter to the attention of Metals and Minerals Trading Corporation of India (MMTC). With Nirmala Sitharaman setting the stage for a level playing field, the Tiruchy merchants are requesting further assistance from the Centre for importing raw materials for synthetic stones.
"At present, the raw materials and machines for synthetic stone production are mostly coming from China. Therefore, we want the Centre to speed up the process of purchasing raw materials through MMTC at a subsidized rate. Similarly, NIT Tiruchy and Siemens Centre of Excellence in Manufacturing are trying to come up with a design for a synthetic stone manufacturing machine with the latest technology. Once this project is completed, we want the government to consider the design and start mass production of this machine. The government should supply these machines to manufacturers at a subsided rate," said KP Annamalai, secretary of All India Synthetic Gems Manufacturers, and Dealers Association.