Surat: Almost all the business sectors are worried over the prospects of the lockdown and the country’s economy coming to a standstill amidst growing cases of Covid-19. But as the pandemic has been brought under control in many parts of the world, India’s diamond industry has achieved remarkable growth in the export figures.
The export of cut and polished diamonds from India clocked the highest monthly figures, over last two years, in March. After weathering the lockdown and increasing numbers of Covid-19 cases among the diamond workers, the export of polished diamond in March alone was over US$1603 million, according to the figures of Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC).
The industry suffered a setback, like other sectors, during the first two quarters of the previous financial year due to the lockdown. But the third quarter onwards, the export of polished diamonds has been consistently on the up.
Due to the increase in the exports in second half, the loss faced during the first half was recovered and the year-on-year growth remained a marginal negative 4.7%.
“As soon as the lockdown was lifted, the industry strived hard. Right now there is a balance in import-export ratio,” said regional chairman of GJEPC Dinesh Navadiya. “As the pandemic is under control in our export markets of USA, China and European countries due to medication and vaccination, the demand for diamond jewellery has also increased,” he added.
Along with cut and polished diamonds, the demand for lab-grown diamonds has also increased overseas. The industry exported lab-grown diamonds worth over US$704 million in financial year 2020-21 registering a growth of 67.21%.