Increasing Gem extraction in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka’s gemstone export industry has experienced notable growth in recent years. The annual income generated from gemstone exports between 2019 and 2024 was US$321 million and US$312 million (up to July 2024), respectively. Projections to reach $500 million by year-end show a slight increase in export revenue. Looking ahead, the National Gem and Jewellery Authority anticipate that annual revenue from gem exports could reach $2 billion by 2025, reflecting the industry’s potential for significant expansion. Although the newly established government is planning to increase the revenues from the gem export trade, limited exploration, regulatory constraints, and environmental concerns hinder the projected target. National Gem and Jewellery Authority (NGJA) and Gem and Jewellery Research and Training Institute (GJRTI) decided to form a high-level committee to identify the challenges and gaps between the government institutions and gem traders and miners to provide feasible solutions for those challenges.
Objectives
- To assess the current status and challenges of gem extraction in Sri Lanka.
- To identify and map untapped gem resources and propose an efficient and feasible mechanism for such exploration
- To safeguard the medium and small-scale gem miners in the gem industry
- To introduce the single window evaluation mechanism in the licensing procedure
- To digitalize all licensing procedures for efficient licensing procedure
- To revisit the current taxing system and propose a suitable and more revenue-based taxing mechanism for importing raw gemstones.
