The domestic diamond processing industry with a significant presence globally is keen on sourcing rough diamonds directly from the world’s largest diamond mining company, Alrosa of Russia, which accounts for 25 per cent of the world output of roughs.
A situation now exists where India (the largest importer and processer of rough diamonds) and Russia (a leading supplier of roughs) have only a small volume of direct business. Direct imports of rough diamonds from Russia were a modest $767 million in 2013.
Speaking to The Hindu , Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) Chairman Vipul Shah said, “The rest goes to EU countries from where it is routed to India. There is a need that these should come directly to India so that Russia and India benefit. We would like the figure to cross $1 billion this year.”
GJEPC and the World Diamond Market Foundation (WDMF) are organising a world diamond conference India in mid-December to coincide with Russian President Vlamadir Putin’s visit to India.
The summit will see participation from several stakeholders from the global diamond industry.
GJEPC said Russia exported 63 per cent of its rough diamonds to the European Union (EU) and only 16 per cent to India, despite the fact that being the global diamond polishing hub, 14 out of 15 rough diamonds were polished in India. India imports only 5 per cent of rough diamonds from Russia while importing 58 per cent from the EU, which is a diamond trading centre, according to GJPEC data.
“We are keen that India becomes the world’s largest diamond trading centre, and are confident that some positives will come from the government in this direction during the summit. The main sticking point for us is the complex taxation issues. Competing countries like Belgium, Dubai and Israel have negligible taxation,” Mr. Shah said, adding, “we are keen to increase the number of long-term contracts that Alrosa has with Indian companies from 8 now to 12,” Mr. Shah said.
