Gems and jewellery exports showed signs of recovery in August, rising 29.18 per cent to Rs 13,160.24 crore ($1,764.06 million) in August compared with the previous month following a gradual growth in demand in the US, China and Europe, the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) said on Saturday.

The total shipments in July stood at Rs 10,187.04 crore ($1,358.58 million), the GJEPC said in a statement.

However, on a year-on-year basis, overall exports of gems and jewellery declined 38.84 per cent in August compared with Rs 21,518.73 crore ($3,018.32 million) in the year-ago month.

“All the gems and jewellery export units are working in full swing and the trade is getting back to normal.

“We are optimistic that we will be able to have a decent recovery in exports from the current levels and restrict the downside of exports to just over 20-25 per cent at the closure of the financial year,’’ Colin Shah, chairman of GJEPC, said.

During the April to August period of this fiscal, gross exports of gems and jewellery at $6,008.57 million (Rs 4,5189.76 crore) is showing a decline of 47.65 per cent (-43.59 per cent in rupee terms) compared with $11,478.14 million (Rs 80,116.55 crore) for the same period of the previous year.

Import of gems & jewellery during the same period at $2,342.134 million is showing a decline of 65.64 per cent against $6,816.92 million in the same period of the previous year.

During this period, the overall gross exports of cut & polished diamonds at $3936.98 million is a decline of 41.42 per cent compared with $6720.42 million in the previous year.