The All India Gem & Jewellery Domestic Council (GJC) – the erstwhile All India Gem & Jewellery Trade Federation (GJF) – today announced that it will be holding the Manthan Gems & Jewellery Conclave 2018 on April 5th and 6th, at Hotel Sahara Star in Mumbai.

Speaking at a press conference held today, the former Chairman of the GJF, Ashok Minawala said: “This industry accounts for 7% of the GDP today. This makes us more responsible and more accountable.”

He explained that the Conclave was being held to provide information and insights; and attain valuable learnings, from other industries, to the domestic gems and jewellery industry, which largely operated in the unorganised sector and a large proportion of which is based in the rural areas.

Minawala said: “We will be having senior and experienced speakers from both within the industry as well as stalwarts from other industries so we can gain from their experiences as well.”

Deliberations and discussions at the Conclave will also pave the way to creating a Vision 2025 document containing both goals and aims, as well as the road map to attaining them, Minawala stated.

“The aim of Manthan is to help segments across our entire industry to build diverse and successful businesses,” Minawala underlined.

Manoj Jha, Convener of Manthan, said that the Conclave was a kind of leadership Summit. “We are involving senior people from 12 other industries along with jewellers. We feel this will take us to a new level of thinking, and a new way of doing business.”    

Jha added: “This is the first paid conclave that we are hosting. And I am happy to say that we already have about 600 registrations.”

He stressed that participants who have registered are from across the country and from various segments of the industry. He noted: “Almost 50% of them are from rural areas.”

The topics that will be covered, amongst others, include: winning new age consumers; imparting skills to women to enable them to become better entrepreneurs; effective brand building; design through inspiration; disruptive innovations; the next generation in the jewellery sector; ethics and good business practices; the business of luxury; changing technology; and importantly, how to successfully float an IPO.

Some leading lights from other fields who will be participating are:  Suresh Narayanan, CMD of Nestle; Vivek Chaand Sehgal, Chairman Motherson Sumi Systems; Devendra Shah, CMD Gowardhan; Sudhanshu Mittal, Director Nasscom; Shripkash Shukla from Mahindra & Mahindra; Abhishek Lodha, MD, Lodha Group; Sourav Ganguly, cricketer.

The Ministry of Commerce will be represented by Shri Manoj Dwivedi, Jt. Secretary Commerce, Government of India, and others.

Asher O, MD Malabar; Gaurav Singh Kushwaha, CEO, Bluestone; and Suvanker Sen, ED Senco Gold are some of those from the jewellery industry who will be speaking at the Conclave.

Nitin Khandelwal, Chairman GJC commented: “With Manthan 2018, we shall launch our Vision 2025 programme for the indigenous gems and jewellery sector. India’s gems and jewellery business is a sterling example of  Make in India contributing around 7%  of the country’s GDP. It provides jobs to more than 46 lakh  people of the country, thus making a significant contribution to the country’s socio–economic framework. Manthan 2018 will be the first amongst many more by GJC to usher in a new phase of evolution for Indian jewellers.”

Pic Cap: Ashok Minala former Chairman of the GJF (4th from left) and Manoj Jha (5th frm lft) along with a team of GJC representatives unveiling the Manthan Gems & Jewellery Conclave logo