Indian Diamond Industry on the Lookout for Synthetic Stones

The Economic Times reported that over the past few months, the Mumbai diamond bourse and some dealers of the stones have installed “automated melee screening tool[s]” that separate natural rough diamonds from synthetic diamonds.

As quoted in the market news:

For insiders and those tracking the secretive world of diamonds, the timing was interesting and unmistakable.

It was happening at a point when the Winsome group, India’s largest bank defaulter (with loan outstanding bigger than Kingfisher’s), has emerged as the world’s largest maker of synthetic diamonds. While in India banks have directed forensic audit on Winsome and government agencies are probing the money trail following the Rs 6,500 crore credit default, Winsome has consolidated its position as a leading player in man-made diamonds by operating from its bases in Singapore, Malaysia and the US.

Vipul Shah, head of the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council, commented:

We are not against the marketing of synthetic diamonds. But manmade stones should be disclosed upfront, there should be proper certification and clear branding … It’s absolutely essential that the two types of stones have differential import tariffs. We have tried to explain it to the government

Click here to read the full report from The Economic Times.