National News
GJEPC and Trade Opportunities seminar: fostering knowledge-sharing, collaboration, and global competitiveness
GJEPC successfully organized an insightful seminar titled “GJEPC and Trade Opportunities” for the gem and jewellery community of Zaveri Bazaar on April 11, 2025. The event was aimed at raising awareness about the Council’s various initiatives and support systems designed to boost the growth and global reach of the Indian gem and jewellery industry. The seminar drew a strong turnout, with more than 200 industry professionals in attendance, including exporters, traders, wholesalers, young entrepreneurs, and members of prominent trade bodies.
The seminar began with a welcome address by Khusboo Ranawat , Regional Chairperson , Western Region and GJEPC Regional Representative, who highlighted the Council’s ongoing efforts to empower MSMEs and exporters by providing market intelligence, financial assistance, and opportunities for international exposure. The speaker emphasized the importance of capacity building and collaboration within the sector to drive sustainable growth.
This was followed by a detailed presentation by GJEPC officials, which covered the Council’s various export facilitation services, upcoming international trade fairs and buyer-seller meets, financial support schemes, and strategic trade advantages available under agreements such as the India-UAE CEPA. The session was tailored to equip participants with practical knowledge to help them tap into global markets more effectively.
A panel discussion featuring seasoned exporters and trade consultants provided valuable insights into navigating international markets. Panelists discussed strategies for expanding into new regions, overcoming the challenges faced by small businesses, and embracing digital tools and branding to stay competitive in the evolving landscape of the jewellery trade.
The event also included an interactive Q&A session, where participants actively engaged with the speakers on topics like export registration, compliance processes, product certifications, and government funding schemes. The open dialogue fostered a spirit of learning and encouraged first-time exporters to explore new possibilities with greater confidence.
In a special felicitation ceremony, GJEPC honored three key trade bodies for their unwavering support and contribution to the growth of the industry. Mumbai Wholesale Gold Association, Jewellers Youth Forum, and Zaveri Bazaar Welfare Association were felicitated along with their respective teams for their role in strengthening the ecosystem and promoting unity among the trade community.
The seminar was extremely well-received by all attendees, who appreciated the depth of information shared and the opportunity to network with peers and industry experts. The event reinforced GJEPC’s commitment to serving as a guiding force for the Indian gem and jewellery sector by fostering knowledge-sharing, collaboration, and global competitiveness.
Mortantra, the contemporary ceremonial Indian jewellery house founded on the belief that Indian craft should be lived, worn and be in circulation, opens its Mumbai flagship, Mortantra Culture House – an immersive experiential environment where jewellery becomes the starting point for an exploration of Indian craft, culture and contemporary design.
Spread across approximately 2,000 sq. ft. in Khar, the Culture House brings Mortantra’s world of jewellery, craft, storytelling and hospitality under one roof. Its design is shaped by an Indian Modern sensibility, where lime plaster, glass, wood and brushed brass meet traditional textiles, hand-worked surfaces, artefacts and jewellery techniques passed down through generations of karigars.
Craft traditions including Kalamkari, Phad Chitra, Pattachitra, Mata Ni Pachedi, Bandhani, Mochi Bharat to name a fewappear throughout the space as a cultural thread and a blessing for this new chapter of the brand.


A Gallery in Motion
The experience begins with a one of a kind 200 KG raw brass door, an interpretation of Mortantra’s philosophy of making Indian traditional jewellery crafts accessible through the metal of India.
Inside, a seven-foot Mata Ni Pachedi introduces visitors to the world of Mortantra. A peacock – a metaphor for the brand and a reference to its name, Mortantra, meaning peacock magic, is placed against a Warli artwork representing Mumbai and Maharashtra. The meeting of the two becomes a visual dialogue between Mortantra’s roots in Gujarat and its new home in Mumbai.
The ground floor unfolds like a gallery, with jewellery presented within warm wooden vitrines detailed in brushed brass. Terracotta, textiles, Kalamkari, hand-carved objects and hand-worked metal sit alongside the jewellery.
An alta- red arch frames a Phad painting commissioned from National Award – winning artist Kalyan Joshi, inspired by the founder’s idea of a fictional city where Indian women from every era coexist.The work reflects on how jewellery and its stories travel through time, and what it means to preserve them.
Across the space, jewellery finds its place alongside a wider world of Indian craft and culture. Artworks and installations draw from Kalamkari, Phad, Mata Ni Pachedi, Warli and the country’s rich textile traditions, bringing craft, memory and adornment into the same conversation. Details reveal themselves as you move through the space – from the 108 names of shringaar etched across brass plates, to sacred motifs beneath the jewellery and textiles woven into a chhat overhead. Together, these touches encourage you to look beyond the jewellery itself and discover the histories, hands and traditions that have shaped Indian adornment over generations.
The Collective & The Sanctum

The lower level becomes warmer and more intimate, housing Sangrah : The Collective, a three-walled grand display of Mortantra’s jewellery- Jadau Kundan, Quartz Polki, Temple, Mishr, Meenakari and Thappa Jadau, alongside statement pieces and bridal jewellery.
The ceiling is layered with textiles from across India, reflecting Mortantra’s commitment to regional crafts, and is finished with a Kutch Mochi Bharat shawl, paying homage to the brand’s Gujarati roots.
A heritage installation traces the evolution of Kundan and Jadau, bringing together archival references, Mortantra pieces and insights into technique and provenance.
The adjoining The Sanctum – Shringaar Antahpuris conceived as a contemporary haveli dressing room, defined by four alta-red arches. It includes spaces for bridal and groom jewellery selections, a getting-ready dresser featuring artefacts from across India, and a lounge for bridal consultations.
The space reflects Mortantra’s founding purpose: to make the dream of Indian bridal jewellery accessible without the burden of gold.
Why Mumbai, Why Khar
With over 30% of Mortantra’s customer base based in Mumbai, the city was a natural choice for the brand’s flagship. Mumbai’s discerning, evolving fashion culture mirrors Mortantra’s own approach to Indian jewellery- deeply connected to heritage while remaining open to reinterpretation.
Khar, with its longstanding presence in Mumbai’s fashion and design landscape, felt like the right setting for Mortantra’s first Mumbai flagship, bringing the brand into an area already shaped by the city’s creative energy..
A Different Kind of Jewellery Space
Across the Culture House, one element remains constant: the hand. From jewellery and textiles to artefacts and craft, everything reflects the human skill and knowledge behind Indian making.
The result is a space that sits somewhere between a gallery, archive, gathering place and bridal sanctuary. Rather than simply displaying jewellery, Mortantra Culture House invites visitors to slow down, explore and discover the stories, craft and ideas behind each piece.
At its core, the flagship represents Mortantra’s belief that craft belongs in our hands, in circulation and in everyday life, not locked away in museums or archives.
Mumbai marks the next chapter in that belief, bringing together the richness of Indian jewellery’s past with a more contemporary way of seeing, making and wearing it today.
The Culture House marks a new chapter for Mortantra – a physical expression of the world the brand has been building over the past decade, now brought together in Mumbai. With an established voice in contemporary Indian jewellery, Mortantra brings together its distinct point of view shaped in Indian craft, material, memory and storytelling.
More than a flagship, the Culture House brings these worlds together through architecture, objects and jewellery, inviting a closer look at the craft and knowledge behind what we wear. The ambition is not to recreate the past, but to keep its beauty and traditions moving forward in a contemporary context. In Mumbai, the Culture House becomes a meeting point between the India Mortantra comes from and the India it is helping shape.
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