De Beers is bullish on diamond jewellery demand in India even as global headwinds have led to a sharp decline in exports of cut and polished diamonds.
A section of the industry is favouring a voluntary ban on the import of rough diamonds.
“In 2021, we predicted that Indian diamond jewellery consumption by 2030 would be $17.5 billion. Three years in, we are already at $8 billion.
“There is a huge expansion that is happening. We are on the path of achieving that big number,” Amit Pratihari, vice-president of De Beers Forevermark, told The Telegraph on the sidelines of a conclave organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce on Saturday.
Factors such as the growth of organised business (generating bills/invoices), national chains expanding in tier 2 and tier 3 cities, and government initiatives around hallmarking are supporting the industry growth.
However, data from the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council shows there has been a 26.49 per cent decline in exports of cut and polished diamonds in Rupee terms from India during April-August 2023 over the same period the previous year.
“With the backdrop of a concurrent downtrend in diamond exports for the last many quarters and softening of prices, the move to voluntarily ban diamond imports is a remedial measure that will help diamond traders, especially the small and medium-sized, to ease their inventories and at the same time help the industry derive a fair price,” said Colin Shah, MD, Kama Jewellery in a statement.
However, Rajesh Bhayyaji Rokde, vice-chairman of the All India Gem and Jewellery Domestic Council, who was present at the ICC event said that a voluntary ban on rough diamond imports may need to be re-considered.
De Beers is also planning to launch its global programme called Origin in India next year.
“Origin will play a big role for the wider distribution. When a consumer buys a diamond and scans a QR code, it will tell the consumer the story about from which mine the diamond has come, who has done cutting and polishing, what are the characteristics of the diamond, how rare is the diamond along with an option to download a report,” said Pratihari.
