Aiming at rough diamond imports of $1 billion annually, Diamond India Ltd, a grouping of 60 traders, is looking at markets other than Russia to scale up its imports.
"We are eyeing imports of rough diamonds worth $1 billion in a year, but we expect the supply to be around $100 million annually to begin with," said Convener for rough sourcing at the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council Praveen Shankar Pandya.
Besides Russia, there are over a dozen countries where diamonds are mined and traders are looking at entering into deals with them to source diamonds.
"Countries of Congo, Botswana and Angola have substantial reserves of rough diamonds and we are in the process
of establishing a purchase contract with these countries to source the stones," Pandya told PTI.
India is a global leader in diamond trade and traders have to go to different sources seeking additional rough diamonds to maintain its leadership position, Pandya said.
Diamond India Ltd has begun sourcing diamonds directly from Russia, Pandya said, adding that $15 million worth of diamonds have reached India in the past two-three months.
Russia was selling diamond worth $800 million to De Beers, the leading supplier of diamonds to India. But diamonds worth over $1 billion would be sold in the open market and India has to take advantage of the opportunity to source it directly, he said.
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