Out of the 12 polished diamonds in the globe, 11 are process in India of which about 90 percent are cut and polished in almost 10,000 units in the diamond city alone. Till last week, no Indian laboratory recognized for certification and grading of diamonds weigh 0.25 carat and above had left the industry with about Rs 55,000 crore of annual export turnovers solely dependent on the global agency working here.
With the Union commerce office under foreign trade policy (FTP) 2004-05 on Friday last authorize the city-based Indian Diamond Institute (IDI) to do the grade and certification of polished diamonds weighing 0.25 carat and above, the export income of processed diamonds is possible to produce further.
According to IDI executive director KK Sharma, the diamond exporters for years have been depending on a few foreign-based laboratories for certification since no laboratory in India was earlier authorized as diamond grading one.
With authorization of grading and certification, the IDI had been bracketed with global agencies like Gemological Institute of America (GIA), Robert Mouawad Campus International Gemological Institute, European Gemological Institute (EGL) in the US, Huge Road Voor Diamond (Antwerp) and Central Gem Laboratory (Tokyo), said Sharma. The IDI all these years made labors to improve its diamond grading laboratory with the state-of-the-art tools and machineries but it was not authorized by the Union commerce ministry for certification and grading of diamonds weighing 0.25 carat and above.
With the statement in the FTP, the IDI would prove beneficial to the diamond industry in Surat which was a chief processing centre in the world, said Pravin Nanavati, secretary of the Gujarat Hira Bourse (GHB).
Big polished diamonds processed here were being taken to Mumbai or overseas countries, linking big risks, for grading and suitable certification for export, said Nanavati.
Since the IDI is authorized to do the grading, it would help the local diamond industry hugely, said diamond exporter Milan Mehta. Better polished diamonds from Surat with good certification cite the grading would have more value in the worldwide markets, he said.
Terming it as a step long late, Mehta said that the diamond industry had made its name the world over but due to lack of grading and certification services, exporters had to depend on the international agencies operating somewhere else in the country or send the consignment abroad for the reason.
It may be mention that in the year 2003-04, the diamond industry exported polished diamonds, gems and jewelery worth Rs 55,683.15 crore (US $ 12,151.53 million) compared to Rs 44,231,12 crore (US $ 9,105.11). In the year 2001-02, the total export amounted to Rs 35,862.56 crore (US $ 7,555.1).
With amenities of grading and certification of bigger diamonds now locally available, the diamond industry with over 10,000 processing units would have more export possible in the international market. Besides the upcoming gems and jewellery park at Ichhapore costing Rs 4,600 crore, the diamond industry in Surat will grow with adequate focus on value additions, according to trade analysts.