Special diamond trade zone poised to open

Diamond miners' trial runs are currently on; Rio Tinto, De Beers and Alrosa participate in trial runs

The special notified zone for trade in rough diamonds is set to commence commercial operations in two weeks.

Spread over 4,500 sq ft at the Bharat Diamond Bourse, the government notified setting up of the special zone in Mumbai in August to ease problems faced by small diamond processors in procuring rough diamonds from overseas miners.

“Recently, Rio Tinto, one of the world’s largest diamond miners, conducted trials. Now trials by De Beers, another large diamond miner, are on. Russian miner Alrosa has booked place to show its rough diamonds next week. We will be looking to commence commercial operation of the special notified zone in two weeks,” said Praveen Shankar Pandya, chairman, Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council.

De Beers is conducting viewings of auction lots between November 27 and December 2, ahead of its year-end auction. The range of products offered for sale is available for inspection at the special notified zone.

“De Beers is hosting viewings of our auction lots in India for the first time. These viewings offer customers greater convenience in their local market, enabling them to inspect the spectrum of rough diamonds we sell,” a De Beers’ spokesperson said.

Foreign miners were earlier hesitant to bring rough diamonds for display in India because of the income tax levy. On October 16, the government exempted the display of uncut diamonds (without sorting or sale) inside the special notified zone from income tax effective April 1, 2015.

“These miners are allowed to book orders from clients in India for delivery of goods from their mine sites or other offices abroad. We are working with the government to sort out the tax issues on sale of goods within the special notified zone,” said Pandya.