GJEPC begins synthetic diamond investigation in Surat

The Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) has launched an operation to discover which diamond factories in Surat, India are manufacturing lab-grown diamonds. Small diamond manufacturers in Varachha and Katargam have recently come under scanner due to reports of mixing of synthetic stones in the natural diamond parcels on a large scale.

GJEPC has appointed experts A T Kearney (global management consulting firm) and Bonas and Co. (De Beers brokers) to assist in the project of establishing the current status, prepare a framework/guideline for the industry members to trade in natural and synthetic diamonds. A Natural Diamond Monitoring Committee (NDMC) has also been formed with various associations like Bharat Diamond Bourse (BDB), All India Gems and Jewellery Trade Federation (GJF) and Mumbai Diamond Merchants Association (MDMA) to take important decisions pertaining to synthetic diamonds. Industry sources say that experts from Mumbai have been in Surat for the last few days to find out the scale at which the lab-grown diamonds are cut and polished and how they are mixed with natural diamond parcels.