Kolkata, Sept. 29 -- West Bengal wants established jewellery houses from across India to set up units in the state, Finance Minister Swapan Dasgupta said on Tuesday.
Speaking at the third Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Diamond Conclave in Kolkata, Dasgupta said Bengal had lost most of its traditional jewellery workers to centres such as Surat, Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and southern India, while the state's jewellery sector remained largely unorganised.
"We want people from all the established houses from all over India to set up shop here. We will provide the facilities, we will try to give security, and we will try to bring customs under the same roof," he said.
Dasgupta said jewellery-making in Bengal had traditionally been treated as an unorganised cottage industry, with karigars seen as individual craftsmen rather than as part of a larger industry. He also attributed the state's loss of competitive edge to what he described as an aversion to business and money over the past five decades. He said bringing skilled karigars and production centres together could give Bengal a competitive advantage.
Any future gems and jewellery park in Kolkata, he said, should include a training centre, particularly for design, along with customs and security facilities and housing for workers. Given Bengal's land constraints, he suggested vertical rather than horizontal development.
"This is not something where you can pick up a worker off the street. You're talking about high levels of skill which have to be nurtured," he said.
Dasgupta called for a national initiative to preserve traditional jewellery-making skills, warning that the next generation may not enter the profession.
He also said the state would unveil its investment policy before the Pujas and urged jewellery businesses to take advantage of it.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.