Chennai: While the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has barred jewellery exporter Rajesh Exports and its promoter-chairman Rajesh Mehta from accessing the securities market for alleged financial misrepresentation of Rs 15.5 lakh crore between FY21 and FY25, Financial Chronicle had reported about irregularities in the exports of the company between FY17 and FY19.
The gems and jewellery exports from Kochi SEZ shot up from negligible levels in FY16 to Rs 40,888 crore in FY19 after Rajesh Exports started operations, while the aggregate gold jewellery exports from all the SEZs in the country declined 6 per cent in FY19 after the Dubai introduced 5 per cent VAT on gold.
For a report published on November 9, 2019, Financial Chronicle had accessed the export data of Kochi SEZ and found that gems and jewellery, which was not even a category mentioned in its export revenues till FY16, shot up to Rs 6501 crore after Rajesh Exports started operating from the zone. This went up to Rs 19149 crore in FY18 and by FY19, Kochi SEZ exported Rs 40,888 crore worth gems and jewellery, which was 95 per cent of the total exports from the zone.
Officials had told Financial Chronicle that Rajesh Exports accounted for the majority of exports from the SEZ. There were three more exporters -Amy Jewellers, Cochin Art and MTV Jewellers- which operated from the SEZ. No new unit had opened in the SEZ between FY17 and FY19. On the other hand, in 2018, Sona Diamond and Gold Exporters had shut their unit in the SEZ after UAE imposed five per cent VAT and it became unprofitable for the company to export.
Financial Chronicle was puzzled by the rise in the gems and jewellery exports of Kochi SEZ in two years, because the aggregate gold items and gold jewellery exports had declined 6 per cent across all other SEZs in the country in FY19 after Dubai introduced 5 per cent VAT on gold.
Imports of gems and jewellery from Kochi SEZ too had risen in a similar fashion as exports. Between FY17 and FY18 imports had risen 231 per cent. The share of gems and jewellery in the import basket of the SEZ went up from 80 per cent to 92 per cent in a year.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: deccanchronicle.com
