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Shri Kaushal Sampat, President & CEO – India, Dun & Bradstreet, Shri N Shankar, Chairman cum Managing Director, ECGC of India Limited, Chief Guest Shri S R Rao, IAS, Secretary – Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce & Industry,Government of India, Mr.Sanjeev Agarwal, CEO, Gitanjali Exports & Smt Geetha Muralidhar, Executive Director, ECGC of India Limited

Recognised as a leading Socially Responsible Exporter for Saksham and other CSR initiatives

Mumbai, November 27: Gitanjali Gems Ltd., the world’s largest integrated branded jewellery manufacturer-retailer, won the First Runner up award in the “Most Socially Responsible Exporter” category at the prestigious ‘ECGC – D&B Indian Exporters’ Excellence Awards 2012’ held in Mumbai yesterday.

The awards are organised by Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India Ltd (ECGC), a government of India enterprise and Dun & Bradstreet, a leading provider of global business information, knowledge and insight. They recognize the contribution of exporters to the Indian economy in different fields.

Gitanjali Gems has been recognised for its pioneering CSR activities. The company has multiple projects under the banner of Sambhav, its CSR programme. The most notable of these is the Saksham initiative under which the company has provided employment opportunities to over thousand people with disabilities at its own diamond and jewellery manufacturing facilities in Hyderabad, Mumbai, Surat and also trained these people for getting employment in other jewellery manufacturing companies.

Mr Mehul Choksi, CMD, Gitanjali Gems, said, “The award is a recognition of the pioneering steps we have taken among gem and jewellery companies in the field of CSR activity, particularly our efforts to provide employment opportunities to people with disabilities. The gem and jewellery industry is in a unique position to help such persons due to the nature of the manufacturing process, and we hope that other companies too will take up similar programmes.”

Earlier, in 2009, Gitanjali Gems won the “Best Employer” award in the National Awards for the Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities conducted the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India.