India is the market leader in exporting lab-grown diamonds (LGD) to the United States, the United Arab Emirates, and China. India's LGD exports amounted to $1.3 bn in 2021-22, a 106.5 per cent increase compared to the $636.44 mn in 2020-21.
The industry’s rise began in 2018 as India exported lab-grown diamonds worth $216.07 mn to rise to $1.57 bn in the financial year 2022 - 2023. From their humble birth in the 1950s, lab-grown diamonds have grown to be embraced by big watch and jewellery companies.
Figures emerging from India are also proof of this boom. India exported lab-grown diamonds worth $216.07 mn in the financial year 2017-18. The latest number between April 2022 to February 2023 stood at $1.5 bn, a seven-times rise in volume over six years.
Aruna Gaitonde, Editor in Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough & Polished
