GJEPC Sees India’s Polished Diamond Exports Jumping in 2013-14

Indian imports of rough goods may soar by 25 percent in the next fiscal year from around US$14.5 billion in the current year, as polished diamond exports to wealthier consumers rise and Indian exporters expand into new markets.

"We will go to newer markets to beat the slowdown, for example, the countries of the former Soviet Union are buying in huge quantities from India," Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) Vice Chairman Pankaj Kumar Parekh says in comments to The Economic Times.

The GJEPC predicts Indian exports of polished diamonds in the fiscal year to March 2014 to rise 25 percent and to rise to a level that is equivalent to 66 percent of the country's total gems and jewelry exports.

Exports of gems and jewelry, including diamond-set pieces, account for around 14 percent of India's total trade, and the sector employs approximately 3.4 million workers.

Demand from countries in the euro zone was likely to remain subdued due to ongoing debt problems in the region said Parekh, while adding that demand in the United States would rebound. "Things are in the doldrums in the European Union, and the buoyancy is visible in India and China," he comments.

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