Titan, the jewellery retail arm of the Tata Group, has officially launched four Karigar (jewellery artisan) centres in the industrial town of Hosur on the Tamil Nadu-Karnataka border.

The new Karigar centres aims to build a sustained pool of gems & jewellery artisans as the Rs 2.5-lakh-crore industry is facing an imminent talent threat. These centres include shop floor and accommodation for the artisans, who will manufacture fine jewellery under the renowned brand Tanishq.

C. K. Venkataraman, chief executive of Titan Jewellery Division, said the opening of new centres represented the company's commitment to improving the work conditions as well as living of jewellery artisans.

Speaking on the topic, he added, "It is a fact that the industry has not paid attention to the conditions of the karigar community, which has made it an unattractive profession for the young. Apart from being a social concern, this is a response to the fact that this immense and skilled talent pool is in the process of drying up."

Mr. Venkataraman further said that the centres would serve as a model and inspire competition to raise the bar.

According to the Gems & Jewellery Skill Council of India's estimates, the industry has been growing at a rate 5 per cent for the past five years, but the number of new artisans taking up the profession has been falling at a rate of
5-10 per cent.

De-growth in the number of new artisans taking up the profession is a matter of big concern for the industry as unlike diamond manufacturing, gold jewellery continues to be a handcrafted industry.