covid19 is an unforeseen and unprecedented situation that has turned the world upside down and like every major disruption it is pushing the industrys boundaries of resilience the industry be it miners manufacturers retailers or wholesalers will have to gear up for a world where the old norms will have to be reframed instead new rules and different social mores will have to be put into place resuming operations in the midst of a pandemic requires a lot of thinking through and courage because this virus so far has no cure already the world over the gem and jewellery industry has started resuming operations gradually and with caution the wheels of the global economy are slowly starting to turn again lucapa diamond company announced recommencement of scaled mining operations at angolas lulo alluvial diamond mine similarly in south africa petra diamonds said it was permitted to ramp up to 50 of labour capacity during the nationwide lockdown though stores in china are not open fully the country is expected to return to normalcy within four months luk fook jewellery in region reported improved sales for the first two weeks of april closer home jaipurs epip and sez zone 1 and 2 have started production surat hira bourse too has exported 10 shipments while surat sez has started operations in eight units pramod agrawal chairman the gems and jewellery export promotion council gjepc said the indian gem and jewellery industry has a backlog of over 1 billionworth of orders this needs to be delivered soon or else there is fear of losing business to neighbouring countries like china or thailand as both the countries are operational we are in talks with the maharashtra government to allow minimal operations at seepz bharat diamond bourse bdb etc which are the most prominent export zones in india gjepc along with the bharat diamond bourse is working with maharashtra industrial development corporation midc to formulate an sop to commence minimal operations at bdb while complying with covid19 safety guidelines set by the state government at the same time gjepc along with the seepz authorities is pursuing the state government to commence minimal operations with the objective to clear backlogs by adhering to the guidelines see page 16 for the latest updates about the state government permitting gems and diamond business to resume limited jewellery operations colin shah vice chairman gjepc stated this industry has emerged from every crisis more resilient this time it will take longer to find the new normal which could be about 20 below the precoronavirus level in value terms the industry collectively took a decision to halt rough diamond imports for a month starting from may 15th 2020 to stabilise diamond prices and clear the existing inventory while theres a definite buzz in the industry to restart a conscious effort will have to be undertaken to realign old ways with new ones to shed light on the situation solitaire has endeavoured to put together a holistic view of