Government sets new wastage norms for Indian jewellery industry

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade has issued revised wastage norms and Standard Input Output Norms for the Indian jewellery industry following a nationwide survey. The new wastage norms will be effective from January 1, 2025.

“DGFT had reduced the wastage norms drastically across all jewellery categories vide Public Notice No. 05/2024-25 on 27th May 2024, recognising the impact of these drastic reductions, the council promptly convened a stakeholder meeting with DGFT officials on the same day, requesting an opportunity to present corroborative data on manufacturing workflows,” announced the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council on Facebook. “As a result, the implementation of the previously issued notice was periodically deferred.”
 
The council has carried out a pan-India survey and analysed data from 160 jewellery manufacturers and exporters. The jewellery industry made two key requests to the DGFT: to allow an adequate transition period to adapt to the new wastage norms and to set wastage norms which realistically align with the jewellery manufacturing process.
 
The DGFT has approved both of the GJEPC and industry’s requests. The previous wastage norms will be enforced until the end of December this year, following which the new norms will be put into place.
 
The DGFT has also made revisions to its Standard Input Output Norms, which specify the amount of raw materials that are permitted to make a specific quantity of finished jewellery. These norms are designed to balance efficiency of metal utilisation with the realities of traditional jewellery manufacturing processes.