Bollywood Celebrities Zeenat Aman, Padmini Kolhapure, Preeti Jhangiani, Shillpi Sharma and fashion designer Falguni were present at the jury round of NJA Awards 2017

by Shrutee K/DNS

Mumbai, 20^th July 2017: The Jury round for the 7^th National Jewellery Awards 2017 organized by All India Gems and Jewellery Trade Federation (GJF). Famous Bollywood celebrities Zeenat Aman, Padmini Kolhapure, Preeti Jhangiani, Shillpi Sharma and fashion designer Falguni (Falguni Shane Peacock) were the judges at the jury round.

Mr. Anantha Padmanaban, Director - GJF and NJA Committee Convener, said,” Today was the last day of the jury round and we were able to have some of the prominent names from the world of bollywood, as a panel of experts as our jury for this year’s awards. All the nominations enrolled for the awards are on display for the jury round. The judges are judging based on the jewellery patterns and designs which are unique and innovative. As organizers, GJF is proud to conduct such awards in the gems and jewellery sector, to encourage the enormous potential we have in the industry.” He further added, “This year with the help of Ernst & Young, the award process was more stringent and at the same time simple and friendly for applicants. We also made registrations for the awards online this year, as an effort towards digital initiative of Govt of India, to encourage people towards digitalization.”

The National Jewellery Awards comprises of Total 25 Award categories that includes Jewellery Awards 12, Excellence Awards 5, Store Awards 5, Designer Award 2, and Student Awards with a substantial amount as scholarship given to the winning students.  All awards have a timeline and appropriate assessment process wherein each category in order to define the brilliance of the winner in the most adequate procedure that will propel the vital recognition that one accurately earns.

About GJF is a national trade federation established for the promotion and growth of gems and jewellery trade across India. It represents over 4,50,000 players comprising manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, distributors, laboratories, gemologists, designers and allied services to the domestic Gems & Jewellery industry. The Gems & Jewellery industry is a hand crafted and  labour intensive with over 1 crore strong labour force engaged in the manufacturing of jewellery industry in the domestic sector. It represents various industry segments such as Manufacturers, Retailers, Wholesalers, Allied, gold, silver, platinum, diamonds, gem stones, machinery, etc. including the entire industry value chain from bullion to retail. Itis highly fragmented across the value chain with 80% of players operating in the unorganised sector, which are mostly family run, labour intensive, and use indigenous technology. Indian gems & jewellery industry is the leading foreign exchange earner, as well as one of the fastest growing industries in the country. The market for gems and jewellery worldwide has grown steadily over the last few years with a share of 29 % in global Jewellery consumption. It contributes about 6 - 7% of the country’s GDP, with almost 40% women employment and it plays an important role in maintaining the current account deficit and export-led growth of the economy. www.gjf.in