What is the story about?
Jewellery maker Rajesh Exports has come under the lens of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for allegedly inflating revenues by Rs 15.15 lakh crore over a period of five years. On Wednesday (June 3), the market regulator, in its interim order, alleged massive discrepancies in the company’s financial reporting between FY21 and FY25.
Sebi has barred Rajesh Exports and its owner from the securities markets until its investigation is complete. However, the company’s Chairman and Managing Director Rajesh Mehta has asserted that its financial disclosures over the years were accurate.
Let’s take a closer look.
Rajesh Exports purchases raw gold, refines it into pure gold, manufactures jewellery and sells gold products. Rajesh Exports Limited was incorporated in 1989, after brothers Rajesh Mehta and Prashanth Mehta joined the family retail business a year before, as per the company website.
By 1994, the company had emerged as the "largest exporter and wholesaler of gold jewellery in India".
A year later, Rajesh Exports entered the capital markets with an initial public offering (IPO), reportedly raising Rs 10 crore. Over the following years, the company expanded its operations, from refining and manufacturing to retailing gold.
In 2015, Rajesh Exports went on to acquire Swiss precious metals refinery Valcambi, one of the world's largest precious metals refiners, for $400 million (Rs 3,831.6 crore) in an all-cash deal, further bolstering its global profile.
The company generates annual revenue of about $39.2 billion (Rs 3.75 lakh crore) and a net income of $153.2 million (Rs 1,465 crore). It is currently valued at around Rs 9,829 crore on the stock market, reported NDTV Profit.
As per the website, the company claims to process 35 per cent of the world’s gold production.
Mutual funds have avoided Rajesh Exports in the last decade, Indian Express reported, citing shareholding data obtained from the company’s website. The state-owned LIC is the only big domestic institutional investor in the firm. LIC’s stake in Rajesh Exports stands at 10.8 per cent as on March 31, 2026.
Rajesh Mehta, 60, has been credited with transforming his modest family jewellery business into one of the largest gold processing and exporting firms globally.
The founder of the company was born in Bengaluru and reportedly studied at the city’s National College. The acquisition of Valcambi in 2015 was seen as a defining achievement of Mehta’s global ambitions, as per Indian Express.
Over the years, the Rajesh Exports chairman travelled widely to build industry connections. As per the company’s website, he was often consulted by trade bodies and industry organisations on matters concerning the gold and jewellery sector.
A gold exporter told Indian Express that Mehta was ambitious but maintained a low profile. “In the early years, he would pitch Rajesh Exports as one that would overtake Titan, which was also into jewellery business,” the exporter said.
On Wednesday, Sebi said that 97–99 per cent of Rajesh Exports’ revenue came from overseas subsidiaries, mainly Switzerland-based Valcambi SA, but claimed the jeweller did not disclose its financials.
Due to this, the company misrepresented nearly Rs 15.15 lakh crore, or 99.8 per cent of subsidiary revenues, between fiscal 2021 and 2025, the market regulator alleged.
In its 109-page order, Sebi said the regulator had prima facie discovered a multi-year pattern of non-genuine transactions, questionable accounting practices, inadequate disclosures and the routing of company funds through entities linked to the promoter group.
Shares of Rajesh Exports declined 10 per cent over the last two trading sessions after Sebi, through an interim order, barred promoter Rajesh Mehta from dealing in the company’s securities.
Rajesh Exports has dismissed allegations of accounting fraud. The company said the interim order does not include any conclusive adverse findings. In a clarification to stock exchanges, Rajesh Exports said there appeared to be a “communication gap and confusion” between Sebi and the company.
“The order is interim and there has been no any adverse conclusion on any aspect arrived by Sebi,” the company said, adding that the process of submitting all required documents to the regulator is underway.
Speaking to Reuters, Chairman Mehta said that as the world's largest gold refiner, Valcambi refined 3,000 tonnes of gold over fiscal 2021-2025, "so naturally" its revenue would be over Rs 15.15 lakh crore.
"The biggest Sebi observation is on difference in revenue which is large because Sebi did not consider consolidated revenue but only standalone," Mehta said.
Mehta also denied allegations of fund diversion. “Not a single rupee of the funds of the company, neither shareholder funds nor company funds, has been diverted for any promoter’s sake,” he told businessline.
With inputs from agencies
Sebi has barred Rajesh Exports and its owner from the securities markets until its investigation is complete. However, the company’s Chairman and Managing Director Rajesh Mehta has asserted that its financial disclosures over the years were accurate.
Let’s take a closer look.
#OnCNBCTV18 | #SEBI Passes Interim Order Against #RajeshExports: Key Findings
- Systemic failure to substantiate its financial figures
- Non availability of financials of subsidiaries
- Selective & incomplete disclosures
- Elimination of intra-group transactions… pic.twitter.com/YgtEB2A8Kd
— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18News) June 4, 2026
What is Rajesh Exports?
Rajesh Exports purchases raw gold, refines it into pure gold, manufactures jewellery and sells gold products. Rajesh Exports Limited was incorporated in 1989, after brothers Rajesh Mehta and Prashanth Mehta joined the family retail business a year before, as per the company website.
By 1994, the company had emerged as the "largest exporter and wholesaler of gold jewellery in India".
A year later, Rajesh Exports entered the capital markets with an initial public offering (IPO), reportedly raising Rs 10 crore. Over the following years, the company expanded its operations, from refining and manufacturing to retailing gold.
In 2015, Rajesh Exports went on to acquire Swiss precious metals refinery Valcambi, one of the world's largest precious metals refiners, for $400 million (Rs 3,831.6 crore) in an all-cash deal, further bolstering its global profile.
The company generates annual revenue of about $39.2 billion (Rs 3.75 lakh crore) and a net income of $153.2 million (Rs 1,465 crore). It is currently valued at around Rs 9,829 crore on the stock market, reported NDTV Profit.
As per the website, the company claims to process 35 per cent of the world’s gold production.
Mutual funds have avoided Rajesh Exports in the last decade, Indian Express reported, citing shareholding data obtained from the company’s website. The state-owned LIC is the only big domestic institutional investor in the firm. LIC’s stake in Rajesh Exports stands at 10.8 per cent as on March 31, 2026.
Who is Rajesh Exports’ founder?
Rajesh Mehta, 60, has been credited with transforming his modest family jewellery business into one of the largest gold processing and exporting firms globally.
The founder of the company was born in Bengaluru and reportedly studied at the city’s National College. The acquisition of Valcambi in 2015 was seen as a defining achievement of Mehta’s global ambitions, as per Indian Express.
Over the years, the Rajesh Exports chairman travelled widely to build industry connections. As per the company’s website, he was often consulted by trade bodies and industry organisations on matters concerning the gold and jewellery sector.
A gold exporter told Indian Express that Mehta was ambitious but maintained a low profile. “In the early years, he would pitch Rajesh Exports as one that would overtake Titan, which was also into jewellery business,” the exporter said.
Sebi’s allegations and Rajesh Exports response
On Wednesday, Sebi said that 97–99 per cent of Rajesh Exports’ revenue came from overseas subsidiaries, mainly Switzerland-based Valcambi SA, but claimed the jeweller did not disclose its financials.
Due to this, the company misrepresented nearly Rs 15.15 lakh crore, or 99.8 per cent of subsidiary revenues, between fiscal 2021 and 2025, the market regulator alleged.
In its 109-page order, Sebi said the regulator had prima facie discovered a multi-year pattern of non-genuine transactions, questionable accounting practices, inadequate disclosures and the routing of company funds through entities linked to the promoter group.
Shares of Rajesh Exports declined 10 per cent over the last two trading sessions after Sebi, through an interim order, barred promoter Rajesh Mehta from dealing in the company’s securities.
Rajesh Exports has dismissed allegations of accounting fraud. The company said the interim order does not include any conclusive adverse findings. In a clarification to stock exchanges, Rajesh Exports said there appeared to be a “communication gap and confusion” between Sebi and the company.
“The order is interim and there has been no any adverse conclusion on any aspect arrived by Sebi,” the company said, adding that the process of submitting all required documents to the regulator is underway.
STORY | Rajesh Exports denies financial irregularities, says 'communication gap' led to Sebi's action
Rajesh Exports on Thursday denied any financial irregularities, saying its reported revenues were correct and that there seemed to be a communication gap between the markets… pic.twitter.com/7B2VYYLOY6
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) June 5, 2026
Speaking to Reuters, Chairman Mehta said that as the world's largest gold refiner, Valcambi refined 3,000 tonnes of gold over fiscal 2021-2025, "so naturally" its revenue would be over Rs 15.15 lakh crore.
"The biggest Sebi observation is on difference in revenue which is large because Sebi did not consider consolidated revenue but only standalone," Mehta said.
Mehta also denied allegations of fund diversion. “Not a single rupee of the funds of the company, neither shareholder funds nor company funds, has been diverted for any promoter’s sake,” he told businessline.
With inputs from agencies
