EGL to open diamond certification lab in A'bad

European diamond certifying agency, EGL (European Gemological Laboratory) is setting up a diamond certifying laboratory in Ahmedabad, the sixth for the company in India.

Taking a cue from the rising demand for diamond jewellery in India, EGL has laid out ambitious plans to expand its presence in the country in 2011. The global diamond certification agency has so far five laboratories located in New Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore and Mumbai.

"The demand for diamond jewellery is rising at a rapid pace. The consumer awareness is also increasing; hence there is a need for globally recognised certification services in India. Gujarat being one of the key markets for diamond jewelleries, we will open our sixth certification laboratory in Ahmedabad on January 26. We are also planning to set up laboratories in Chennai, Hyderabad and Raipur in coming months," informed Pritesh Jhaveri, director, EGL.

 

In Gujarat, EGL has 15-20 clients, which it intends to increase to 100 by the end-2011. For this, EGL will also rollout mobile laboratory for diamond certification in Gujarat.

"We will explore other potential markets in Gujarat. For this we will run a mobile laboratory that will reach out to our clients in distant places," Jhaveri told.

EGL certifies around 2000-3000 diamond and jewellery pieces per day at its existing laboratories located across India. At the upcoming laboratory in Ahmedabad, the company intends to initiate certification from 100 pieces per day in the first 2-3 months.EGL will conduct diamond authentication workshop in Ahmedabad during January 5-7, in association with Forever Jewellery, a part of the Su-Raj diamond group. The workshop is aimed at spreading awareness about the need of certification in diamond jewellery.

Commenting about the demand for diamond jewellery, Pranav Dalal, head (retail operations), Forever Jewellery said, "The diamond jewellery is for adornment, and the demand for this purpose is rising. We are organising a free workshop for the customer awareness. Currently, from our total sale of jewelleries, nearly 28 per cent consists of diamond jewellery, which is projected to increase to 40 per cent by this financial year-end."

Forever is a jewellery retailing chain having outlets in Ahmedabad and Nagpur. It is also opening up retail chains in Delhi, Hyderabad, Surat and Vadodara in the year 2011.