Lucknow, May 13: The Indian diamond market is growing at a
healthy pace of 30 percent 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 reporters 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 jewels 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 jewels 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 percent.
''In the current fiscal, we are looking at a growth of almost 100
percent,'' 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 organized 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 jewels retail growth and
hallmarking,'' he explained.
Mr Kalra was recently in town for a 'wedding carnival' diamond
jewels 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.
Bureau Report
First Published: Sunday, May 13, 2007, 00:00