Russia War Likely To Hurt India's Diamond Trade

The Indian diamond trade, which produces nine out of 10 of the world's polished diamonds and employs over 4 million, could face collateral damage from the Russian war.

- Ram Sahgal

The Group of Seven (G7) nations, an informal bloc of advanced democracies led by the US, is threatening to halt the imports of certain grades of polished diamonds from India that use rough diamonds indirectly sourced from Russia. Though the G7 hasn't yet sanctioned Russian diamonds cut and polished outside that country, the bloc is working on restricting their use to cut Russian revenues.

The action forms part of the punitive economic sanctions imposed by the bloc against Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February last year.

Representatives from the bloc have been negotiating with officials from apex trade body and commerce ministry sponsored Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), Bharat Diamond Bourse (BDB) and Surat Diamond Bourse, among others, for the past three months on the issue.