Retail diamond sector growing at 30 pc

Lucknow, May 13: The Indian diamond market is growing at a healthy pace of 30 per cent with rising incomes and fashion consciousness among the people being the main driving force.

''India already figures among the top 10 nations in terms of annual retail diamond consumption,'' R Kalra, National Sales Manager, D'Damas told UNI here.

He said the introduction of low value diamonds and the recent duty cuts by the government have only given the much needed impetus to the sector.

''Even established brands have diamond jewellery priced upwards of Rs 1,500 and people are slowly graduating to this sector from gold ornaments...this is a positive signal,'' he added.

Mr Kalra informed that the current diamond jewellery market in the country stood at Rs 2,500 crore.

Commenting on the burgeoning Uttar Pradesh market, the D'Damas official claimed that it was posting a blistering growth at almost 85 per cent.

''In the current fiscal, we are looking at a growth of almost 100 per cent,'' he exuded.

He said the demand for diamond was stronger in West and North India, while South still has an inclination towards gold.

However, he underlined that the organised sector still accounted for a minority share of only 12-15 per cent in India.

''Diamond is slowly moving to being a safe asset class just like gold, due to branded diamond jewellery retail growth and hallmarking,'' he explained.

Mr Kalra was recently in town for a 'Wedding Carnival' diamond jewellery exhibition in the UP capital.

D'Damas, which is major branded diamond retailer, is a collaboration between the international Damas Group and Mumbai-based Digico of the Gitanjali Group.

UNI