Surat, a global hub for diamond cutting and polishing in India, recently also became a home to the Diamond Detection and Resource Center (DDRC) opened at the Indian Diamond Institute (IDI) located in the city. The DDRC was inaugurated by Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) along with Indian Diamond Institute (IDI) on 3rd April, 2015.

The inauguration took place at the hands of Chief Guest Shri Saurabhbhai Patel, Hon'ble Minster of Finance, Energy, Petro Chemicals & Mines, Tourism, Cottage & Salt Industry, Government of Gujarat and Guest of Honour Shri. Nanubhai Vanani, Hon'ble Minister of Sports, Youth Culture Activities, Water & Education, and Government of Gujarat lit the lamp and inaugurated the center along with Vice-Chairman, Mr. Pankaj Parekh and Regional Chairman, Mr. Chandrakant Sanghavi.

The facility will serve the industry in enhancing fair trade. It will act in:

- Identifying and certifying Synthetic diamonds

- provide the industry with the required information on the diamonds

- promote fair trade with full disclosure

- act as a resource to assist companies in detecting synthetic diamonds.

- enable entrepreneurs with the means to eradicate the issue, while it is still at a germinating stage, thereby ensuring the purity of the diamond pipeline

The DDRC will be supported with high technology, with vital machines installed:

AMS machine, Diamond Check, Diamond Sure, Diamond View, Diamond Plus, Diamond Spotter, FTIR Spectroscopy, Raman spectrometer and D Screen. With these testing facilities, consumers can be assured that they will never be misled.

Mr. Pankaj Parekh mentioned, "A centre like DDRC at Surat was an absolute necessity which is the hub for cut and polished diamonds. The facility will enable fast detection of synthetic diamonds in the natural diamond parcels. The small traders, who cannot afford the machine, can get their parcels tested at an affordable cost. The state-of-the-art Automated Melee Sorting (AMS) machines at DDRC can rapidly detect synthetic stones in parcels of small diamonds ranging from 0.01 - 0.20 carats in a cost effective manner."

Mr. Parekh requested Hon'ble minister to introduce differential VAT for synthetic diamonds in Gujarat State to differentiate it from natural diamond.

Chief Guest Shri Saurabhbhai Patel, Hon'ble Minister of Finance, Energy, Petro Chemicals & Mines, Tourism, Cottage & Salt Industry, Government of Gujarat, Hon'ble Minister of Finance Industry, said the mixing of synthetic diamonds with their natural counterparts is like a disease for diamond trade of Surat and India. In a time when 'Make in India' is being promoted this undesired practise damages the repute of the industry and the country. To curtail this, the IDI-DDRC came as a timely measure which would ‘help to continue with the confidence of the consumers on the industry’, he added. He also emphasized the need to set up jewellery units with necessary supporting infrastructure facility like banking, air-connectivity, SNZ in Surat to make SDB an international trading facility. He assured all his support to the industry in this regard and introduction of VAT on Synthetic Diamonds.

The DDRC project has been conceptualized by the Natural Diamond Monitoring Committee (NDMC) launched jointly by GJEPC, Mumbai Diamond Merchant Association (MDMA), Bharat Diamond Bourse (BDB) and Gems & Jewellery Trade Federation (GJF) and set up by GJEPC and IDI in Surat. The intent is to comprehend the industry issues and formulate solutions towards building consumer faith in the industry via segregation of the natural and man-made diamonds. The DDRC aims to assist small and medium enterprises in the city in these matters. It is set to follow the footsteps of the DDRC which is set up in Mumbai. The Centre will also offer services to diamond companies which comprises of technical and on-the-job training of their staff in the testing methods.