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| Diamond was first mined in
India and the earliest known reference to diamond is found in Sanskrit
manuscript, the Arthasastra, which was completed around 296 BCE,
describes diamond's hardness, luster, and dispersion. The first river-bed (alluvial) diamonds were probably discovered in India, in around 800 B.C. (the volcanic source of these diamonds was never discovered). As a matter of fact, India led the world in diamond production from the time of their discovery to the mid-18th century & we do know that from ancient times until the eighteenth century, almost all the world's diamonds came from India. |
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| The earliest record of
diamond-polishing (with diamond powder) is Indian, and probably dates
from the fourteenth century. Indian diamonds reached Venice by two Mediterranean routes: the southern route was by way of Aden, Ethiopia, and Egypt, and the northern route was through Arabia, Persia, Armenia, and Turkey & there are also references to the practice of diamond polishing in Venice. |
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Various reasons led to the decline of Indian diamond industry : exhaustion of diamond-bearing rocks, water trouble in the excavations, oppressive nature of the mining and political administration, absence of systematic prospecting operations, superstitions amongst the workers and the discovery of diamond fields in other parts of the world. India hence lost its monopoly in diamond trade in 1728 when Brazilian mines were first exploited & subsequently, in 1870 the South African mines monopolized the global market in this precious gem. |
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| Though India never invaded any country in her last 10,000 years of history, ancient-people from all over the world, from Alexander onwards, the Greeks, Turks, Moguls, Portuguese, British, French, Dutch, all invaded ancient India. India was the richest country on Earth until the time of the British invasion , in the early 17th Century. It has been estimated that the total amount of treasure looted from India had already reached £1,000,000,000 (£1Billion) by 1901.Taking into consideration interest rates and inflation this would be worth close to $10,000,000,000,000 ($ Ten Trillion) in real-terms today. | |||
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Re-emerging from relatively humble beginnings of a small and unorganized sector in the 1950s and 1960s, the Indian gems and jewelry industry has now rapidly emerged as the manufacturing powerhouse of India. |
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| India now leads the globe in diamond manufacturing with 60 percent share in value, 85 percent in volume and 92 percent share in the number of pieces produced. While these statistics are impressive enough in themselves, it is the scale, breadth and depth of the industry which add the final sparkle to the sector. About 9 out of 10 diamond stones sold anywhere in the world, process through India. | |||
| With an estimated 30,000 units in diamond industry and a work force totaling 4 million, the industry is now churning out new employment opportunities for many. India is home to the largest collection of laser machines in the world, with more than 1000 lasers deployed in the diamond industry alone. In addition, modern equipment such as computerized diamond planners, auto-bruters, semi-automatic, and automatic polishing machines are used in most manufacturing units. It is estimated that 85 percent of the high tech polishing machines world-wide are sold to India. A country that entered the international diamond industry as a manufacturer of small diamonds only, today, is producing virtually stones of every shape, size, and color. Most companies are now innovating and developing new cuts, some of them being patented internationally. | |||
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With the plain and studded jewelry sector growing at 15-20 percent per annum, the total gems and jewellery exports of the country has experienced exponential growth in the past five years, with exports increasing from $7.779 billion in FY01 to $15.707 billion in FY05, making the industry one of the country's largest Forex earners. |
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Unlike other sectors, despite the presence of large players, SMEs continue to dominate the gems and jewelry sector in India. Even the large players, who are a few in number, entirely depend on the SMEs in the market for completing their processing. Most large companies either do not specialize in all categories or don't have the capacities to match market demands. So they outsource the processing jobs to SMEs. |
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| We (Aananta India) are a SME. | |||
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The Indian diamond industry may soon get rough diamonds directly from African countries. Many African countries have sounded out the government on selling roughs directly to India. India will join Belgium, Israel and Dubai as a centre for diamond trading, once direct access to rough diamonds is established. The country has already emerged as a big player in the finished product category - cutting and polishing imported roughs and re-exporting it as solitaires and jewelry's. As part of a deal between the Indian government and African countries, a few Indian companies may set up manufacturing facilities in countries like South Africa, Congo and Botswana. While Indian companies will provide employments to African nationals, rough diamonds from the mines in those countries will be routed directly to Indian ports, as part of a proposed agreement. If the deals take place, local diamond traders too are bound to benefit from the move, as the diamonds will become cheaper. This deal would dilute the role of intermediaries like Diamond Trading Corporation (DTC), if not eliminate their presence in the market. (DTC controls 80% of global trade in rough diamonds). |
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| Additionally, from 2006, major international diamond mining companies are interested in investing in diamond mining in India, now that the government has decided they themselves may control 100 percent of their investment rather than being limited to 74 percent. Domestic diamond mining would boost the industry, further. Diamond mining is believed to be a real prospect in the Indian states of Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. | |||
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In India, the Diamond trade and offices are located, in Mumbai (Bombay) & the major manufacturing center is in the near-by city of Surat. |
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| The trade-related areas of
interest, are Andheri, Bandra and Opera House. Andheri may be considered as the start point (North) and is where the International Airport lies. Bandra may be considered as the mid-point & Opera House may be considered the end point (South). Andheri, has the single largest concentration of jewelry manufacturing facilities in the world. Bandra, is looking forward to the 'Diamond Bourse' - a world class diamond trading facility, coming up in Mumbai. Opera House area houses the traditional Diamond district of India, the offices are located within a radius of less than half a mile. |
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Integrity, trust, and quality are our ethos. |
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Email vj@aananta.net |
Cell 91- 98206 19206 |
Tel 91- 22- 26492172 |
Fax 91 - 22 - 26492172 |