Indian diamond industry to focus on domestic markets and ASEAN countries

The Indian diamond industry is set to focus on the domestic market and emerging markets in ASEAN countries to neutralise the impact of reduced demand from the US and the European Union (EU). The move came after diamonds originating from Russia were banned.

Vipul Shah, Chairman of the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), said that the outcome of the ongoing discussions on future business prospects involving diamonds originating from Russia is still unclear. “The intentions of the Western countries that they do not want to finance the Russian diamond business are clear. The government and industry are trying to work out the modalities of a fool-proof method of assessing the traceability of diamonds. The current demand from the US and Chinese markets is lower than the usual demand from these markets,” Shah said.