Identifying Lab Grown Diamonds as a tech-driven emerging sector with high employment potential, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a reduction of Customs duty on seeds used to make lab grown diamonds. She also announced that a research and development grant will be given to one of the IITs for five years.

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This, the FM said, will encourage indigenous production and reduce import dependence.

Surat in Gujarat, India is the world’s largest diamond producer in the world. 90 percent of the world’s diamonds are cut and polished in Surat. While this has largely been for natural diamonds, production and export of lab grown diamonds has been growing in the country. As per reports, there are currently more than 400 factories in Surat that produce lab-grown diamonds.

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According to data from GJEPC, exports of polished lab-grown diamonds from India increased 70 percent between April-July 2022 period to $622.7 million.

Lab grown diamonds are made from a carbon seed through a process that crystalizes these seeds into diamonds. While these diamonds optically & chemically same properties as natural diamonds, they cost 40-70 percent lower than natural diamonds.

According to the GJEPC website, “Lab-grown diamonds can be created by two processes - High Pressure High Temperature (HPHT), which is prevalent in China and Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD).”

Vipul Shah, Chairman, Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council said, "We thank the Government for accepting its recommendation to promote indigenous manufacturing in the emerging Lab-Grown Diamond (LGD) sector by providing Research Grants to IIT for five years. GJEPC welcomes the reduction of Customs Duty on LGD seeds to zero from five percent. It will ensure India’s end-to-end world leadership in rough to finished lab-grown diamond and jewellery manufacturing."

Lab-grown diamonds are also used in computer chips, satellites, 5G networks gien their ability to function in extreme environments and can operate at higher speeds while using less power than silicon-based chips.

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First Published:Feb 1, 2023 12:51 PM IST