India sojourns rough Import!
Endeavours to stabilize polished prices India being the global leader in diamonds, it produces 14 out of 15 diamonds set in jewellery worldwide and polishes one billion stones each year. In FY 2019, India’s major export markets for cut & polished diamonds were USA ($6,960.09 million), Hong Kong ($6,381.97 million), Middle East ($2113.63 million), Europe ($1,534.50 million). Although the year 2020 is reminiscent of the recession period of 2008-09 when the Indian diamond industry collectively and voluntarily decided to halt imports of rough for a month or so to ease pressure on the overburdened pipeline. This time though, multiple calls were taken month on month starting in April, to review the spread of the pandemic and the danger it posed to lives, before taking a call to restart the units, which had come to a grinding halt in March following the nationwide lockdown. In a true spirit of solidarity, the industry, led by the Gem & Jeweller...