Pioneering P30 million jewellery plant takes shape

MBONGENI MGUNI
Staff Writer | Tuesday May 11, 2010 00:00

The plant will occupy premises in which Shrenuj has already invested approximately US$4 million (P27.5 million) establishing its cutting and polishing operations.

Shrenuj Botswana General Manager, Kim Lanny, told Mmegi that space had already been allocated within the company's factory for the establishment of the 'state-of-the-art' jewellery facility.

'What we are left with doing now is internal construction and the installation of equipment,' Lanny said.Shrenuj, a century-old diamond polishing and jewellery company, plans to leverage on its international experience and linkages in establishing and developing the Botswana jewellery operation. The Indian company has 15 offices employing 2 000 people globally. Apart from Botswana, Shrenuj has high-tech diamond cutting and polishing facilities in India and Israel.

The company's jewellery manufacturing operations are in India, with distributor arrangements/retailing facilities in China, Hong Kong and the United States, the latter through acquisition of Simon Golub and Sons jewellery distributors.

Speaking at the company's launch last Friday, Shrenuj Group chairman, Shreyas Doshi, said the Botswana operations would thus be an integrated diamond processing operation, featuring all diamond processes except production and aggregation.'My family has been in the diamond and jewellery business for well over a hundred years,' Doshi said. 'We set ourselves very high standards and work hard to achieve them.

'This is a tradition that we are determined to continue here in Botswana. We have created capacities in diamond polishing to cater to much higher production levels than our current intake and it is our desire to grow and develop our diamond operations here.'

Shrenuj Botswana was appointed a DTCB sightholder last July following the collapse of DDA Botswana. The company took over DDA's premises, fast-tracked the upgrading and expansion of operations before taking its first supply from DTCB in August of the same year.'In the current factory, we have invested approximately US$4 million (P27.5 million), which includes the purchase price from DDA and further investment in technology,' said Lanny. He revealed that since establishment last August, Shrenuj Botswana had spent P150 million in purchases at the monthly DTCB sights.

The company will need its solid finances and international distributor network to absorb the anticipated higher prices of rough diamonds this year. For this, Shrenuj will rely on its strategy of targeting high growth-low risk developing markets in India, China and the Middle East.