National News
GJEPC & BDB Host High-Impact Customs Open House as Trade Flags Critical Valuation & Procedural Challenges
Senior Customs officials engage directly with diamantaires to address urgent concerns on valuation, investigations, reimports and policy-level reforms ahead of Budget 2026.
GJEPC and the Bharat Diamond Bourse (BDB) jointly organised a high-impact Customs Open House on 4th December 2025 at the BDB Convention Hall, creating a rare direct dialogue between diamantaires and top Customs officials. The session saw active participation from Prachi Saroop, Principal Chief Commissioner of Customs (Mumbai Zone III); Santosh Kumar Mishra, Commissioner of Customs; Roopesh Sukumaran, Additional Commissioner; and Harsh Singh, Joint Commissioner of Customs.
Representing the industry were key leaders including Kirit Bhansali, Chairman, GJEPC; Anoop Mehta, President, BDB & Convener, Diamond Panel – GJEPC; Shaunak Parikh, Vice Chairman, GJEPC; Mehul Shah, Vice President, BDB; Russell Mehta, Member – Diamond Panel, GJEPC; and Sabyasachi Ray, Executive Director, GJEPC.
Members of the trade raised pressing concerns around:
- Volatile diamond pricing
- Delayed investigations
- Inconsistent valuation practices
- Tolerance limits
- Operational issues in exports, reimports & consignment shipments
Diamantaires highlighted frequent discrepancies between panel valuers, difficulties with mixed-quality parcel classification, and the financial strain caused by prolonged case pendency.
Addressing the gathering, Prachi Saroop stressed that the purpose of the Open House was to listen and take corrective action within the legal framework. She committed to speeding up investigations, ideally closing cases within six months, and requested GJEPC to submit a consolidated list of pending matters. She urged the industry to share specific pain points requiring policy-level intervention, especially with Budget 2026 approaching.
Santosh Kumar Mishra explained the functioning of the two-tier panel valuer system, acknowledging the limitations arising from the lack of specialised jewellery experts in customs recruitment. He assured that minor valuation variations were already being treated with practical judgment, while major differences required deeper assessment as per legal protocols.
Industry leaders reiterated the need for clear tolerance limits, harmonised valuation norms, and simplified reimport procedures, especially in a market defined by sharp price fluctuations and unpredictable demand cycles. The session concluded with Customs authorities assuring that all documented grievances would be thoroughly reviewed and that actionable steps would follow—marking a constructive move toward enhancing the ease of doing business for the diamond industry
National News
Senco Gold & Diamonds Partners With Olocker to Give Customers Free Jewellery Insurance, Letting Precious Memories Be Worn, Not Hidden Away
A Customer-First Initiative Designed to Help People Wear Their Precious Memories with Confidence.
Senco Gold & Diamonds, one of India’s most trusted jewellery houses, has partnered with Olocker, India’s first dedicated jewellery insurance platform, to offer free jewellery insurance to its customers, protecting purchases against risks such as snatching, robbery, and housebreaking.
On the surface, it’s a simple value-add: buy jewellery from Senco, get it insured, at no extra cost. But the thinking behind it is more personal — the freedom to actually live with the things you love.
There is a quiet ritual that plays out in homes across India every wedding season, every anniversary. A piece of jewellery is bought with love, worn once or twice with pride — and then, almost apologetically, tucked away in a bank locker for “safekeeping.” The very thing meant to be cherished ends up spending most of its life in the dark.
A Locker Is No Place for a Memory
Ask any family that owns fine jewellery, and you’ll hear the same quiet anxiety: the fear of stepping out wearing something precious, the fear of a break-in while the house is empty. For many, the solution has always been the same — lock it away, take it out only for weddings and festivals, and let it sit untouched the rest of the year.
It’s a practical response to a real risk, but it also means jewellery bought to mark a marriage or a milestone ends up being seen far less than it deserves.
This is the exact problem Senco Gold & Diamonds’ Managing Director, Suvankar Sen,

has spoken about wanting to solve. Known for a customer-first philosophy that goes beyond transactions, Sen has often said jewellery should be something people live with, not something they merely own. “Jewellery is never just metal and stone,” Sen said, explaining the thinking behind the Olocker partnership. “It’s a wedding day, a mother’s blessing, a promise kept. When customers can’t step out wearing it, or can’t leave home without worrying about a break-in, something is broken in that experience. We wanted to fix that.”
That sentiment is the quiet engine behind this initiative. Rather than simply selling jewellery and stepping back, Senco has chosen to walk the extra mile — ensuring that once a customer takes a piece home, they can wear it freely and pass it down through generations, without the constant undercurrent of worry.
What the Partnership Actually Offers
Through this collaboration, Senco customers receive free jewellery insurance via Olocker on qualifying purchases, protecting against snatching, robbery, and housebreaking.
Olocker, India’s first digital platform dedicated to jewellery insurance and asset tracking, brings the technical and insurance backbone — while Senco brings its decades of trust, built since 1938, to make sure customers actually use it.
For a family that has just bought a piece for a wedding, this means peace of mind — wearing that necklace to a dinner without the nagging thought of “what if someone snatches it,” or “what if someone breaks in while we’re away.”
A Partnership Built on Shared Intent
The excitement isn’t one-sided. At Olocker, the partnership is seen as validation of the idea the platform was built on — that jewellery insurance should be a natural, everyday companion to ownership, not a niche afterthought.
“This is genuinely one of the most exciting collaborations we’ve been part of,” said Milind Shethia, Founder & Chief Marketing Officer at Olocker. “Our mission has been to help people wear their jewellery instead of locking it away, and partnering with a name as trusted as Senco brings that mission to millions of customers at once.
What’s heartening is Mr. Sen’s own approach — he didn’t look at it as a marketing tie-up, but as giving something back to people who’ve trusted Senco for generations. That kind of intent is rare, and it’s exactly the spirit we built Olocker around.”
That mutual sense of purpose is what gives this partnership its quiet credibility. It isn’t a scheme or a promotional hook, but two organisations agreeing on a simple, shared belief: jewellery should be lived in, not locked up.
A Bigger Idea About Ownership
There is a broader philosophy at play, one Suvankar Sen has championed throughout his tenure at Senco — that jewellery is an emotional asset as much as a financial one, and customers shouldn’t have to choose between enjoying it and protecting it.
This partnership feels less like a marketing initiative and more like a promise kept, reflecting a leadership style that measures success in something harder to quantify — how cared for a customer feels long after leaving the showroom.
As jewellery increasingly doubles as adornment and investment, initiatives like this one may well set a new benchmark for customer care in the industry.
Senco, through its partnership with Olocker, isn’t just insuring jewellery against snatching or a break-in — it’s giving people back the freedom to wear their memories, out loud, without fear.
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