De Beers to invest $ 10m in R& D

Between the US and China, the firm accounts for 57 to 58 per cent of the global diamond market. India accounts for 8 per cent.

With nine out of ten diamonds cut and polished in India, the De Beers group one of the leading diamond companies globally has found it more cost effective to set up its International Institute of Diamond Grading and Inscription facility in Surat the diamond polishing hub of India.

Mr Stephen Lussier, chief executive officer of Forevermark and executive vice- president, marketing, De Beers said they would be investing $ 10 million to set up the most technology advanced Forevermark diamond inscription and grading operation in the world in Surat.

Half of the $ 10 million will be the cost of the Forevermark technology which is unique, he said. This is their second centre globally after Antwerp.

He said, “We can now envisage a future where polished diamonds from around the world come to Surat to benefit from this world- leading facility.” Surat was selected as a significant number of their customers were there so it would cut costs by around three per cent and save time.

Mr Lussier expects a turnover in volume of diamond grading of 100,000 in 2015 and double this in two to three years. They have a capacity of 500,000. It costs on an average $ 50- 60 to grade a diamond, depending on then size of the diamond.

The price of polished diamonds are down at the moment and so is production because of the economic slowdown globally. It was down around three per cent in the first quarter but they expect it to pick up later in the year.