In Budget 2023, FM Sitharaman announced the reduction of custom duty on Seeds import for LGD (Lab Grown Diamonds) manufacturing. FM also announced a grant to IITs to facilitate the growth of LGDs in India.
What are Lab Grown Diamonds?
For centuries it was thought that India was the only place where natural diamonds were found. India was the source of nearly all the world’s known diamonds until the discovery of diamonds in South Africa. But the discovery of a 21-carat diamond by a schoolboy in South Africa in 1867 changed the scale of the diamond industry entirely.
In 2013, India mined 37,515 carats of diamonds, from one industrial-scale mine and many artisanal mines; this was less than one-tenth of one percent of the world production of 132.9 million carats.
In India, the only active diamond mine is located at Panna, in Madhya Pradesh, which is run by the state-owned National Mineral Development Corporation.
India is a global leader in cutting and polishing natural diamonds, contributing about three-fourths of the global turnover by value. With the depletion in deposits of natural diamonds, the industry is moving towards Lab Grown Diamonds (LGDs) and it holds huge promise.
In Budget 2023, FM Sitharaman announced the reduction of custom duty on Seeds import for LGD (Lab Grown Diamonds) manufacturing. FM also announced a grant to IITs to facilitate the growth of LGDs in India.
Lets us understand LGDs in this context and cover possible questions that can be asked in competitive exams- both objective and subjective questions.
Drawbacks of Naturals Diamonds?
We cannot start a discussion on Diamonds without mentioning the name Cecil Rhodes
Cecil Rhodes is the founder of De Beers Mining Company. He founded the mining company De Beers which mines Diamonds in 1888. By the 1900s De Beers controlled 90% of the diamond mines and started controlling the prices of Natural Diamonds. Eventually, Diamonds became the most precious commodities on Earth.
This has completely changed the geopolitics of African countries where these diamonds are found
Environmental Crimes: Unchecked and irresponsible mining for Diamonds had led to Environmental Damages such as Water and Land Pollution in these African countries.
Blood Diamonds: In countries like Sierra Leone- Malitia Groups use diamonds to fund civil wars, often resulting in Slavery and Human Rights Violations
There is a movie named Blood Diamond by Leanardo Decaprio which shows the brutal reality of Blood Diamonds- please watch it when you have some leisure time.
Why Lab-Grown Diamonds?
They are the same as natural diamonds in every possible way without negative damage. They come to us as an ethical alternative to Natural Diamonds.
India is a global leader in cutting and polishing natural diamonds, contributing about three-fourths of the global turnover by value. With the depletion in deposits of natural diamonds, the industry is moving towards Lab Grown Diamonds (LGDs) and it holds huge promise.
In Budget 2023, FM Sitharaman announced the reduction of custom duty on Seeds import for LGD (Lab Grown Diamonds) manufacturing. FM also announced a grant to IITs to facilitate the growth of LGDs in India.
LGD Seed is an automatic blueprint of the diamond from which an entirely new diamond can be grown in an artificial environment.
LGDs are different from materials that mimic diamonds which lack the sparkle and durability of a diamond. Examples of such materials include – Moissanite, Cubic Zirconia (CZ), White Sapphire, YAG, etc.
There are multiple ways in which LGDs can be produced. The most common (and cheapest) is the “High pressure, high temperature” (HPHT) method. As the name suggests, this method requires extremely heavy presses that can produce up to 730,000 psi of pressure under extremely high temperatures (at least 1500 Celsius). Usually, graphite is used as the “diamond seed” and when subjected to these extreme conditions, the relatively inexpensive form of carbon turns into one of the most expensive carbon forms.
Other processes include “Chemical Vapor Deposition” (CVD) and explosive formation that creates what is known as “detonation nanodiamonds”.
CVD Diamonds are close to the natural process of Diamond formation. A diamond seed(thin layer of a natural diamond) is used and placed in a CVD plasma reactor. Under intense pressure and temperature(like in earth’s core). The advantage of CVD- is no impurities as the process is in a controlled environment.
FM did a wonderful job in bringing special focus to LGDs. The reduced customs duties for LGD seed imports and creating a conducive ecosystem for LGDs can directly result in the growth of this emerging sector with huge employment potential.
List of diamond mines in India:
Bunder Project -Madhya Pradesh
Golkonda- Andhra Pradesh
Kollur Mine- Andhra Pradesh
Panna- Madhya Pradesh
