The Indian Association for Gold Excellence and Standards (IAGES) announced the launch of the Advanced Leadership Programme in Gold Entrepreneurship, developed jointly with SPJIMR (Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s S. P. Jain Institute of Management & Research). The six-month executive programme is designed to build a new generation of professionally trained leaders for India’s gold and jewellery industry, combining SPJIMR’s academic rigour with IAGES’s deep on-ground industry expertise.

Much of the industry’s strength has always come from trade wisdom passed down through generations — but that legacy now needs to be matched by equally strong capabilities in finance, brand-building, governance, technology and succession planning. This gap between traditional trade knowledge and the modern business skills needed to compete, scale and earn consumer trust is precisely what the Advanced Leadership Programme in Gold Entrepreneurship has been created to close, giving the industry’s next generation of owners and entrepreneurs the tools to lead with confidence and help shape a more transparent, professionally run and globally competitive gold business ecosystem in India.

The programme spans six months and includes 75+ campus sessions, with three weeks of immersive learning at SPJIMR’s Mumbai campus, and participants who complete it are conferred SPJIMR Executive Alumni status. Its curriculum is structured across key modules including Finance, Operations, Marketing, Strategy, Human Resource, Family Business, and Artificial Intelligence.

It is designed for young entrepreneurs, family business successors, jewellery retailers and manufacturers aged 21 to 40, who hold a graduate qualification and are active in the gold and jewellery trade. Admission follows a five-step process — online registration, a short aptitude test, declaration of results, fee payment and admission confirmation — and with seats limited, the last date to apply is 30 September 2026.

“India’s gold industry has been built over generations on trust and craftsmanship, but leading it forward now takes that same legacy paired with structured, modern leadership. Too often, talented entrepreneurs inherit outstanding businesses without a formal grounding in finance, strategy or governance, and this programme has been built to close exactly that gap. We believe it will help shape a new generation of leaders who define the future of the Indian gold business,” said Kaushlendra Sinha, Chief Executive Officer, IAGES.

The Advanced Leadership Programme in Gold Entrepreneurship marks a new pillar in IAGES’s ongoing mission to standardize and professionalize India’s gold sector. Since its formation, IAGES has worked with industry bodies and accredited gold businesses across the country to build a code of conduct and drive accreditation and assessment, alongside consumer-facing initiatives that build trust in the trade. Education and leadership development extend that same mission, from strengthening standards and practices today to developing the leaders who will carry the industry forward tomorrow.