Nirmala Sitharaman lays foundation for South India’s first Gem & Jewellery Training Institution
Udupi: The Foundation stone laying ceremony of Southern India’s first Gem & Jewellery Training institution promoted by the Union Ministry of Commerce & Industry was held here on June 16.
After Mumbai, Delhi, Jaipur and Varanasi, Udupi gets the fifth IIGJ of the country and the first in South India. The new facility at Udupi aims to enhance artisans’ skills.
Nirmala Sitharaman Minister of State Commerce & Industry, Govt of India laid the foundation for the institution.
Addressing the gathering Nirmala Sitharaman said that Udupi and Mangaluru have been one of the major jewellery markets in India. However, there are not many skilled artisans in this trade and that is why a centre is being set up at Udupi. The centre will have three stages of training; office, supervisor and managerial level. In the beginning, the Udupi facility will have only the first level of training.
We had asked land for constructing the building. The district commissioner Priyanka Mary Francis happily agreed to provide prime land for the building. In the initial stage, IIGJ will start functioning in a rented building and expand it depending on the demand. Classes will be commencing from November 1, she added.
The primary objective of GJEPC in setting up IIGJ is to promote Indian gems and jewellery abroad, thereby enhancing exports from India along-with the ‘Made in India’ brand image. Apart from it, through skill India initiative, the centre will also strive to provide job opportunities for youngsters from the region. Trained youth can set their own jewellery design shops, she said.
Across the Globe, the best of jewellery pieces are majority hand made. Global retail giants like Cartier, Boucheron or Van Cliff command premium prices for their hand made jewellery. She said India, whose forte lies in crafting most intricate handmade jewellery should capitalise on this opportunity by building necessary infrastructure.The Minister said by setting up institutes like IIGJ and other facility centres GJEPC once again has come forward to further equip Indian Gem & Jewellery sector and make it globally competitive. She said she was confident that IIGJ in Udupi will aid in providing exciting career opportunities to youth of surrounding regions in this sector.
Praveen Shankar Pandya, Chairman, GJEPC said “IIGJ in Udupi is one of the ambitious projects taken up by GJEPC to tap the unutilised potential of youth in this region and thereby giving a significant boost to Indian G & J sector. This Institute strongly embodies primes ministers’ Make In Indian initiative and much-professed emphasis on design & handmade jewellery. It is closely aligned with the vision of Nirmala Sitharaman, to establish a one of its kind, full-fledged Jewellery Institute of Udupi with a strong Design focus. This is yet another step towards the pursuit of “Skill India”.
The Institute will provide training to the youth in the region in various aspects of hand-crafted jewellery making, which could eventually lead to employment opportunities in the G&J sector. It will also aim at enhancing the skills of the existing work force already engaged with the industry. Creation and upgradation of such trained work force will in turn help in fostering the development of the local jewellery industry.
The Institute will focus on three levels of Skills
New Skilling for developing fresh skills in candidates who have no prior domain learning/working knowledge of jewellery.
Up-Skilling for upgrading the skills of candidates who have prior domain learning and are already working in the sector.
Give a design & technological orientation to the local industry to be competitive in the Indian & world market.
Keeping the objectives in mind, the Institute shall offer manufacturing & CAD designing courses on jewellery. Indian Diamond Institute, based in Surat & IIGJ has been involved on behalf of GJEPC to collaboratively develop the programme curriculum with NID, India premier Design Institution.
Shobha Karandlaje MP Udupi – Chikkamagaluru, Manoj Dwivedi joint secretary ministry of Commerce and Industry, K Srinivasan, Secretary GJEPC, A Nagaraj Acharya president Udupi district Jewellers Association and others were present.
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