BDB lifts ban on synthetic diamonds

Decks have been cleared for trading of synthetic diamonds at the Bharat Diamond Bourse (BDB), the country’s largest diamond trading hub.

BDB members at the bourse’s annual general meeting held Monday voted to lift the ban imposed four years ago at an AGM.

The ban was imposed “to protect “ the natural diamond trade , said Mehul Shah, Vice President, BDB. “Back then telling a lab grown from a natural one was difficult . But, now since awareness has spread among members and machines have been deployed by some of them to tell natural from lab grown one, BDB decided to lift the ban .”

Shah said guidelines For trading synthetics would be finalised within a week and approvals for trading would commence over the next fortnight .

Draft guideline proviso say that an entity choosing to deal in synthetic diamonds has to open a separate company for the purpose . Also, a separate area has to be reserved for synthetic diamond trading, among others .

Shah said a lab grown diamond traded at a fifth of the value of a natural one.