Gem, jewellery industry seeks abolition of import duty on raw material for lab-grown diamonds in Budget
The Hindu
An lab-grown or man-made diamond is produced using a seed, which is a crucial raw material
Gem and jewellery exporters on January 9 urged the government to announce support measures like the abolition of import duty on raw material for lab-grown diamonds and jewellery repair policy to promote the sector and boost shipments in the forthcoming Budget.
The industry also suggested the introduction of presumptive taxation on diamond sales at special notified zones and the introduction of the proposed DESH bill, which seeks to replace the existing law for special economic zones.
Also Read | Lab-grown diamonds yet to dazzle the Indian buyer
Seeking a kind of "diamond package" in the forthcoming Budget, the industry said in light of the high inflation and economic crisis in the U.S. and Europe and frequent lockdowns in China, the exports of diamonds and jobs in Surat have been impacted.
The conventional source of rough diamonds across the world faces threats of deposit depletion, which also contribute to the exponential increase in the cost of extraction. Industries have thus found lab-grown diamonds to be a profitable alternative.
These lab-grown or man-made diamonds (LGDs) are grown inside a lab using cutting-edge technologies under specific parameters. They have a similar physical appearance, chemical composition and optical qualities as natural diamonds.
An LGD is produced using a seed, which is a crucial raw material.
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The Union Budget unveiled on February 1, 2025, has come at a time of unprecedented global uncertainty and a flagging domestic economy. The real GDP growth is estimated at 6.4% for 2024-25 and between 6.3-6.8% for 2025-26, a far cry from >8 percent growth required annually to make India a developed nation by 2047. While much attention has been devoted to the demand stimulus through income tax cuts, not enough is said about the proposed reforms in urban development, tariff rationalisation, and regulatory simplification aimed at making Indian cities and corporates more competitive. Since the majority of economic activity is located in cities (urban areas account for ~55% of GDP) and produced by large corporates (~40% of the national output and 55% of India’s exports), the above-mentioned reforms have a pivotal role in improving India’s trend growth rate. Below we unpack each reform.
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