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Global diamond mining and trading major De Beers Group on Tuesday unveiled a newly expanded diamond-grading and testing centre by its arm, International Institute of Diamond Grading and Research (IIDGR), here, with an investment of $5 million (approx ₹34 crore), taking the group’s total investment in Surat to US $15 million.
The facility, employing about 100, has the capacity to process diamonds worth over $500 million every year. The facility will provide polished diamond-grading services, diamond-verification services, as well as melee (small diamond) testing and screening.
“This facility will help protect the domestic industry against emerging risks. And through IIDGR, the De Beers Group is investing in innovations to ensure India maintains its position as a global diamond hub,” said Jonathan Kendall, President, IIDGR.
Commenting on the group’s new initiatives, Kendall stated that IIDGR’s education services will be launched in Surat — a global first for the group. “There will be three short-duration courses to provide practical understanding and knowledge on grading, melee screening and understanding synthetic diamonds. We plan to launch the course in March-April 2017,” Kendall stated.
Kendall said India’s consumer demand for diamonds is set to grow significantly, considering the potential increase in income levels in the next 10-20 years.
Around 90 per cent of the world’s rough diamonds are cut and polished in India, with the sector employing around 8,00,000 people in highly skilled jobs.
“India has also experienced an almost uninterrupted growth (in rupee terms) in consumer demand for diamond jewellery in the past 20 years, and now makes up 8 per cent of the global demand.”
Highlighting the need to recognise lab-grown diamonds, Kendall said IIDGR will make and market more of its PhosView screening instrument.
PhosView is a compact, self-contained screening device designed to allow parcels of polished stones to be quickly and accurately analysed to determine if they contain potential High Pressure High Temperature synthetics.
“About 98 per cent of the world’s synthetic diamonds are HPHT synthetics. Jewellers, diamantaires and traders are willing to install a machine for themselves. We plan to make about 200-300 such machines next year,” Kendall said.
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