$30m for Lab Grown Research in India
February 28, 23
(IDEX Online) - India's commerce ministry has approved an investment of almost $30m over the next five years to establish and fund a center for lab grown diamonds.
It follows the abolition in last month's budget of a five per cent import levy on the graphite seeds used to create lab grown diamonds.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also pledged to fund five years of research and development grant to help India produce its own diamond seeds and become less reliant on imports.
The India Centre for Lab-Grown Diamonds (InCent-LGD) will be based at Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) in Chennai, southern India.
V Kamakoti, director of IIT Madras, said: "This is indeed the right time to set up a diamond factory in India. It is a historic moment for IIT Madras for being selected for implementation of such an important project."
Screengrab of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's Union Budget speech last month, courtesy Sansad TV.