India’s gemstone industry will hope to add some sparkle to ties between New Delhi and Moscow this week by persuading Russia to massively increase its exports of diamonds direct to the global hub of cutting and polishing.
Vladimir Putin’s two-day visit to the Indian capital from Wednesday is expected to see landmark deals clinched on natural gas and nuclear power, AFP reported.
The Russian president is also due to attend the inaugural World Diamond Conference, starting Thursday, which aims to raise Mumbai’s status as a major diamond trading center.
Russia is the world’s top producer of rough diamonds and the majority of them pass through India, where a cheap workforce cuts and polishes the gemstones before most are exported again for use in jewelry.
But only about a fifth of rough produce is sold directly from Russian mines to India, with the rest passing through diamond hubs such as Antwerp and Dubai – something that may be about to change.
Mumbai Seeking Massive Increase in Russia Diamonds
Rajrishi Singhal, Senior Geo-economics fellow, Gateway House, has been quoted in an article on India-Russia's new diamond trade cooperation. This article has been published by The Financial Tribune