Following hard on the heels of two in a series of global �road shows� earlier this year in Antwerp and Israel, De Beers� Diamond Trading Company held another such presentation for non-sightholders in Mumbai October 7, in conjunction with the Bharat Diamond Bourse. The road show will travel to other diamond centers over the coming weeks, including Johannesburg on October 24.

The DTC said it is embarking on this communications program in response to requests from interested industry bodies and non-sightholder businesses to find out more about the DTC�s perception of recent trends in the diamond markets and its strategy of growing consumer demand for diamond jewelry (Supplier of Choice). The presentations also outline current DTC marketing programs and consumer confidence initiatives.

�India is a very important market for the DTC,� said Nicholas Graham-Smith, DTC regional marketing director. �The last couple of years have seen India show a growth of almost 50 percent combined. DTC�s global road shows will present ways for India�s diamond industry to effectively prepare for the global demand that will follow the DTCs massive marketing and advertising programs, considering that India is one of the fastest growing markets in the world after the U.S. and Japan.�

Cherie Tandon Saldanha, marketing director, India for the DTC, said that the Diamond jewelry market in India is approximately 66 billion rupees ($1.47 billion) and growing. �With the demand spreading to mini metros and other smaller towns, the future for the DJ industry looks very bright,� she said.