Lab Grown Diamonds

Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles recently appreciated the Gujarat Government for spearheading several wide-ranging initiatives to promote the Lab Grown Diamonds Sector.

Initiatives –

• The government had brought in is that it has permitted 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in the sector under the automatic route.
• Gujarat Government is offering 100% exemption on electricity duty for 5 years under the provisions of the electricity act.
• According to Budget 2019-20, the GST rate has been reduced from 18 per cent to 5 per cent.
• Interest subsidy and net SGST reimbursement upto a 100% is also being offered to MSMEs, large and mega players.

Lab-made diamonds –

• Lab-made diamonds are developed from a carbon seed placed in a microwave chamber and superheated into a glowing plasma ball.
• The process creates particles that crystallise into diamonds in weeks.
• The only difference between lab-grown diamond and natural diamond is that instead of digging the earth, it is created in a lab under a machine.
• This tech-based manufacturing directly cuts down the capital and labour-intensive factors of the mined diamond chain and so lab-grown diamonds cost 30-40 per cent cheaper than mined despite being 100 per cent diamond.
• There are two types of lab-grown diamonds –
  • • CVD and
    • HPHT
• India particularly specialises and leads in the chemical vapour decomposition (CVD) technology that is certified as the purest type of diamonds.
• According to the report, the Gemological Institute of America predicted the total annual sales of laboratory diamonds will be well over $100 billion in the not too distant future, from about $20 billion today.
• This segment of the diamond is growing at an annual growth rate of 15-20 per cent.

Surat: Diamond capital –

• Nine out of 10 diamonds in the world are estimated to be polished in Surat.
• Currently, 25-30 per cent of diamond polishing units in Surat service lab-grown diamonds, with 15 per cent of units dealing only in the lab-created commodity.