By Dominick Rodrigues
Mumbai, Jan 4: The All India Gem & Jewellery Domestic Council (GJC) – the national apex body of the gems and jewellery industry — has appointed Ashish Pethe as Chairman and Saiyam Mehra as its Vice-Chairman for a period of two years.
Thanking the Board for the responsibility of steering the national domestic council, Ashish Pethe, Chairman GJC, stated, “We shall work closely with the Government and take up various issues facing the industry. In sync with Government’s policies, my first effort will be to transform and energize jewellers across India to bring more synergies within the indigenous industry.”
“We shall strive to unite the entire industry and work towards achieving GJC’s set goal of +One Industry, One Voice.+ GJC will strive to inspire many more jewellers and their association to get more organized for projecting a unified approach to policy changes,” he said, adding “We also want to tackle current ongoing challenges related to Hallmarking, PMLA and other issues such as the Banking sector’s hesitancy to provide loans to the G&J sector.”
Pethe, the present Zonal Chairman West and newly-elected Chairman of GJC, has successfully conceptualized and executed innovative programmes for the benefit of the Industry. Besides being instrumental in handling many burning issues like Hallmarking, he has spearheaded the National Jewellery Awards of GJC in 2020. After completing electrical engineering from VJTI and completing MBA in Marketing from Symbiosis, he joined his family firm at Waman Hari Pethe Jewellers and has been associated with the Gems and Jewellery industry for the past 25 years, a release stated.
Saiyam Mehra, the newly-appointed Vice-Chairman, is known for his vision to create benchmarks in gold and silver jewellery that reflect excellence in design and artistry, the GJC board noted in complimenting his commitments towards innovations and visualizing future trends all these years, besides expressing confidence that he will continue to work for the benefit of the industry.
Expressing pride in working for the growth of this pivotal trade organization and to contribute his vision for development of its member jewellers across the region, Mehra, Vice Chairman, GJC, said “There is a need for the industry to become more organized and compliant. GJC will continue to create better and newer platforms for the industry.”
The All India Gem and Jewellery Domestic Council (GJC) represents over 6,00,000 players comprising manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, distributors, laboratories, gemologists, designers and allied services to the domestic Gems & Jewellery industry. The Council addresses the industry, its functioning and its cause with a 360° approach to promote and progress its growth, while protecting the industry’s interests. GJC, since the last 15 years, has been serving as a bridge between the government and the trade by undertaking various initiatives on behalf of and for the industry, the release added.