Participants in IIJS 2009 will have to fork out an increase of 5% in booth rentals at the venue at Goregaon, Mumbai. The industry which is already seeing a steep decline in revenues is not enthused by the increase. Defending the increase, {{Sabyasachi Ray}}, executive director, Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council, disclosed that negotiations between the Council and the owner of the grounds at Goregaon took place in November before the collapse of banking giant, Lehman Brothers. The grounds had been leased to the Council for three years and the lease lapsed in November. “While the owner wanted an increase of 30%-40% in the rent, we negotiated successfully for an increase of only 15% in the rentals of the grounds,” says Ray. “An increase of only 5% has been passed on to the exhibitors.” %% In the month of November, |*DiamondWorld.Net*| was first to report when council was surveying the different city options and was considering Bangalore as the next venue. Check the below link,$$ http://www.diamondworld.net/contentview.aspx?item=3213