The Gems & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) has proposed formation of a mechanism for direct supply of rough diamonds by the leading mining company Alrosa whose delegation visited Surat city and Surat International Diatrade Centre (SIDC), a special notified zone, recently.

In a statement to the media, GJEPC said it has proposed the formation of a mechanism for the direct supply of natural rough diamonds by Alrosa, especially to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in India.

Estimating a stable growth this year, Alrosa anticipates diamond output of 31.5 million carats with chances of an increase to 33 million carats. On the topic of lab-grown diamonds, Alrosa reiterated that it would continue to focus on the natural diamond segment of the business and that it has no intention of entering the synthetic gems segment.

“The direct sourcing of rough diamonds would help our MSME sector in a big way. We have discussed possible ways of collaboration with ALROSA, and will soon submit a plan so that our MSME sector would secure direct access to rough from the world leader in diamond mining,” said Colin Shah, chairman, GJEPC.

“From Alrosa’s perspective, India remains the most important centre for manufacturing diamonds, and is the third-biggest consumer of diamond jewellery as well. I’m certain that today’s discussions will further strengthen Indo-Russian cooperation in diamonds and benefit the natural diamond pipeline at large,” stated Evgeny Agureev, deputy CEO of Alrosa.