India Eases Rough Diamond Import Rules

Mineweb reported yesterday that the Reserve Bank of India has made it easier for diamonds to be imported into the country; essentially, traders and manufacturers are now able to “directly import rough diamonds from anywhere in the world.”

As quoted in the market news:

Prior to liberalising the rules, banks could only finance Indian importers with advance remittances to a limited group of global rough miners, including De Beers, Rio Tinto, Alrosa, BHP Billiton, Endiama, Russia’s State Precious Metals and Gems Repository (Gokhran), etc.

The remittances were in exchange of rough diamond parcels, and the payments to these select sources were without any limit and without a bank guarantee or a standby letter of credit.

The earlier norms detailed that the finance would only be to notified mining companies by an importer, other than a public sector company or a department or undertaking of the Union or state governments.

The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) new norms, however, means the apex bank would not specify the names of foreign mining companies from which importers may import roughs.

Click here to read the full Mineweb report.