Saudi Arabia first in region to receive WHO verification for Type 2 emergency medical response    Haram Authority provides low-calorie meals to guests of God in Grand Mosque    33,000 Saudi-made luxury carpets adorn Grand Mosque    SP Jain Global ranked 23 in the world in QS Executive MBA Rankings 2025    US Envoy Witkoff: Russia-Ukraine ceasefire talks to resume in Jeddah on Sunday    Israel launches fresh strikes on Gaza, vows to fight 'in full force'    Saudi Arabia announces school holiday in Jeddah, Makkah, and Taif for Formula 1    Nasa astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams finally return to Earth    Migrant carers from India's Kerala await justice in UK visa 'scams'    Harry's US visa records unsealed after drug claims    Saudi Arabia slams Israeli attempts to destabilize Syria through continuous attacks    Saudi Arabia surpasses self-sufficiency in figs    Istituto Marangoni to open Riyadh campus in August 2025    621 car maintenance businesses operate under franchise system in Saudi Arabia    Princess Reema bint Bandar greets Saudi Special Olympics team in Jeddah    AFC Champions League Elite Finals draw sets stage for Jeddah showdown    Cannes award-winning actress Dequenne dies at 43    Newcastle United ends 70-year wait for domestic glory with Carabao Cup triumph    Antenna: Saudi artist Ahmed Mater opens first solo exhibition in China    Grand Mufti rules against posting prayers and preaching in mosques on social media    Man lives for 100 days with titanium heart in successful new trial    King Salman prays for peace and stability for Palestinians in Ramadan message King reaffirms Saudi Arabia's commitment to serving the Two Holy Mosques and pilgrims    Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan 'out of danger' after attack at home in Mumbai    Order vs. Morality: Lessons from New York's 1977 Blackout    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



India's diamond traders move house, dream big
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 14 - 07 - 2008

The ambitions of Mumbai's diamond traders are grand, even if their offices are not.
They nurse dreams of rivalling Belgium's Antwerp as the world's diamond trading capital while sitting in ageing tower blocks that are about as grimy as a cut diamond is sparkly.
Corridors are splattered bloody red with decades' worth of spat-out chewing tobacco. Lift doors must be yanked shut by hand. Toilets must be entered gingerly. Traders' offices, though somewhat cleaner than the public spaces, tend to be cramped.
But, barring any last-minute bureaucratic spanners, the bulk of the trade should soon shift across the city to a new home more befitting one of India's biggest export earners.
India already polishes about nine in every ten diamonds, mostly tiny, cheaper stones less than a carat. Faced with growing global competition, India hopes to cling on to its position in polishing by spreading into an area in which it has lagged: the trade of rough diamonds.
“We're trying to make India the largest trading center and manufacturing center for diamonds,” said Sanjay Kothari, the chairman of India's Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC). “Why should we go to Antwerp?”
A bullish confidence is common among Indian businessmen these days. Nonetheless, even if few see Antwerp being eclipsed any time soon, the ambition of Kothari and his colleagues is giving pause to at least some Antwerp traders.
In 2006-2007, India imported $8.8bn of rough diamonds and exported $10.9bn of polished gems, much of which is sent to Hong Kong and the United States to be set in jewellery. But its dominance is under threat. Consultancy firm KPMG said in a 2006 report that India's share of diamond polishing by value would drop to 49 percent by 2015, from 57 percent today, as the global diamond industry spreads into new corners of the globe.
China is investing heavily in polishing mid-sized stones. Angola, Namibia and Botswana are increasingly determined to process locally some of the stones chipped from their mines, which once would have been promptly whisked off to the London clearing house of De Beers, the dominant player in rough trade.
To keep their foothold, India intends to spread out along the chain between mines and ring fingers. Indians' success in cutting diamonds has given them advantages elsewhere: about 40 percent of the trade in Antwerp is controlled by Indians, according to the GJEPC's Kothari, while Indians make up about half of De Beers' elite customer list.
The new Bharat Diamond Bourse – Bharat being the Hindi name for India – will house India's first international diamond trading hall, and is intended to bring the trade back to the land where diamonds are said to have been first mined a millennia ago.
“Finally!” exclaimed Louise Prior, a spokeswoman for the De Beers' marketing arm the Diamond Trading Company (DTC), when told by a reporter the bourse's opening may be imminent. “It's been under construction for a seriously long time.”
In fact it has been about 15 years, a few years less than it took to build the Taj Mahal, and its blue, glassy, cliff-sized facade already looks a little dated.


Clic here to read the story from its source.