The second edition of the India International Diamond Week kicked off to a glittering start in Mumbai today with the organisers – Gems & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) – echoing the first edition’s grand success and emphasizing increased growth this year too.

The three-day Show has been powered by Gemmological Institute of America (GIA) on the sidelines of the World Diamond Council (WDC) AGM and World Federation Diamond Bourses’ (WFDB) Meet in Mumbai.

The India Diamond Week 2018 was inaugurated by Pramod Kumar Agrawal (Chairman, GJEPC), Colin Shah (Vice Chairman, GJEPC), Dilip Shah (Convener-International Exhibitions, GJEPC Committee of Administration), Sanjay Shah (Member-Committee of Administration, GJEPC Diamond Panel) and Sabyasachi Ray (Chief Executive Director, GJEPC).

Urging for an industry-friendly policy and healthy relations with the Government, Pramod Kumar Agrawal, Chairman, GJEPC said this diamond show witnessed participation of around 120 international buyers from 29 countries including Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, China & Hong Kong, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Israeli, Kazakhstan, Korea, Lebanon, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Russian, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Sweden, Syria, Thailand, Turkey, UAE, UK, Ukraine, USA and Uzbekistan.

Highlighting the GJEPC’s endeavour to promote the Indian diamond industry globally and improve its trade relations with high-potential country markets, Agrawal said “At present, 14 out of 15 diamonds set in jewellery globally are processed in India, Gem & jewellery exports accounted for US$ 42 billion in 2017 and the overall gross exports of gem & jewellery exports were at US$ 20.23 billion during April-September 2018 (down by 2.49%) as compared to USD 20.74 billion during April-September 2017.”

Noting that the GJEPC invited the leading international buyers to India to deal directly with Indian suppliers in order to reduce cost of transactions and boost bilateral trade between global importers and Indian exporters, Agrawal said “India is a preferred sourcing destination to the world, and focused Buyer-Seller Meets will further promote business while strengthening ties between Indian trade and international buyers. It will also help them discover new facets of Indian expertise – wherein India not only played a pioneering role in the development of value-added diamond-cutting, but also that our diamantaires have developed skillset for cutting and polishing larger stones and fancy cuts.”

Senthil Nathan S, Deputy Secretary, Union Ministry of Commerce, said the Indian diamond industry has a leadership position, but needs to aspire for sustainable development and mid-to-small sized diamond businesses cutters, polishers, craftsmen have to be assimilated into the mainstream export businesses for greater progress, respectability and inclusive growth. “We have to be mindful of the current global concerns such as conflict diamonds, labour, environment and economic challenges,” he pointed out, while urging for diamond marketing focus on the “Y” generation alongside unlocking such market opportunities for the industry.

Talking to the media, GJEPC members lamented the 10% devaluation of the Rupee that had caused the industry business to decrease by 5%. While the USA-China trade war had led to ‘choppy waters’ and +financial turmoil+, success this year in maintaining last year’s export figures – if not more – would make the industry happy, they said, adding that about US$ 60 million was being spent within three months on a campaign globally for greater awareness about this industry.

“India, USA and China are the leading countries in this industry which has created around 5.2 million jobs in India itself and this figure like to rise to 8 million jobs by 2022. For our exports, the rupee devaluation is a good thing in the long term, though too much is not good for the country. While business is good in terms of trade and GST, “Ease of doing Business” remains a huge challenge due to problems at the Customs level and about which we have apprised the Government and Commerce Secretary at our meetings,” they pointed out.

To a question about “illicit diamonds affecting global trade,” the GJEPC officials said these effects were miniscule due to such smuggling being reduced, especially within the Central African Republic.

Mr Stephane Fischler, President , World Diamond Council, was also present at the event.

GJEPC leads in self-regulation encouraged through MyKYC amongst GJEPC members. GJEPC has launched ‘My KYC Bank’ portal, for total transparency in operations. ‘My KYC Bank’ is a centralised KYC platform for the gems and jewellery industry. All industry participants can update their own KYC information and documents on a single window and subsequently share the same with their trading partners.

The Indian industry has been successfully following the Best Business Practices and complying with the world Business standards. Indian companies follow The Best Practice Principles, a set of ethical standards developed by De Beers to promote the highest business conduct in the diamond pipeline. In addition to the same, the companies in India are following the System of Warranties on all their invoices as initiated by WFDB & WDC.

Moreover, the GJEPC in the capacity of being a KP Import / Export Authority in India is working closely with the KP Chair, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India and the trade to implement and oversee the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme in India. India is the Vice Chair of KPCS for the calendar year 2018 and will handle the responsibilities of Chairmanship during the year 2019.

Besides highlighting Sustainable Development through model programs for the health and welfare of its workers such as ‘Swasthya Ratna,’ the GJEPC plays a dominant role in global diamond advertising. For the generic promotion of diamonds, GJEPC has joined hands with Diamond Producers Association – DPA to fund the promotion of Diamonds and Diamond Jewellery with the sole objective of instilling demand for the product at the consumer end. The overall media promotion funds allocated by DPA for 3 markets — namely the USA, China and India — are to the tune of US$ 40 million. GJEPC has contributed US$ 2 million to the Global promotion fund by the DPA. GJEPC is building state-of-the-art gemological laboratories that ensure diamonds are natural, well-crafted and ethically sourced.

The Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) was set up by the Ministry of Commerce and industry, Government of India (GoI) in 1966 and is one of several Export Promotion Councils (EPCs) launched by the Indian Government to boost the country’s export thrust, when India’s post-Independence economy began making forays in the international markets. Since 1998, the GJEPC has been granted autonomous status and is the apex body of the gems & jewellery industry where it today represents over 6,000 exporters in the sector.