Page 12 - Bullion World Volume 3 Issue 2 February 2023

Bullion World | Volume 3 | Issue 2 | February 2023

Mr Chirag Thakkar, Director, Amrapali Gujarat
In India, about 50 to 60% of silver goes for manufacture of jewellery and
silverware, providing employment and export opportunities. Most of
these manufacturers are small artisans. About 10 to 20% silver goes for
manufacture of industrial products such as silver contact, brazing alloys,
silver paste and so on. Thus, silver is an essential raw material for further
value-addition by the industry. Therefore increasing customs duty on silver
will result in restricting imports of silver into the country and will affect the
competitiveness of Indian manufacturing which will have cascading impact
on final price !!!

Mr Rahul Mehta, MD, Silver Emporium
Consumers will not be happy with the increase in the silver duty, which will
lead to an increase in silver prices in the domestic market. Silver has always
been a preferred investment for the common man. Indian silver market is
growing, and with continuous education on quality to consumers, quality
standards of silver articles are improving in India.

With the record import of silver this year, we expect demand to slow down
in the coming months due to higher silver prices.

Mr Bhavik Chinai, Group CEO, BVC Logistics
The overall budget for 2023-24 has been neutral towards business and
positive towards individuals. The announcement to develop 50 new airports
and helipads, once ready, will make secure logistics significantly faster
and safer. The huge infrastructure investment bumped up to 10,000cr
by 33% will have a positive cascading effect on all industries, provide
more employment and thereby increase the circulation of money in the
economy. The reduction in Import duty on Seeds for Lab-grown diamond
manufacturing will accelerate India’s rise to a global manufacturing leader in
the entire diamond industry, lab grown as well as natural.

Other ease-of doing-business initiatives like making PAN the universal
company identifier, reducing compliances & more commissioners for faster dispute resolution are highly
positive for improvement in day-to-day functioning for businesses. For the logistics & jewellery industries,
we look forward to implementing this budget positively.

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