In a bid to facilitate diamond exports from the country, a diamond trading house—Bharat Diamond Bourse (BDB)—has been inaugurated in Mumbai recently. This development holds immense significance for the numerous SMEs in the diamond industry because BDB will seek to offer advanced infrastructural facilities to SME-based traders, exporters and importers of diamond.

“The Indian diamond industry is one of the biggest in the world. BDB, which has been built lavishly on a large-scale, will seek to help SMEs in the industry by giving them a better platform to trade their diamond products,” said Pankaj Parekh, chairman of the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (eastern region) to a Bizxchange correspondent.

The trading hub, which is expected to become operational in a few months, is likely to attract more foreign diamond traders to India. This development spells well for SMEs in this sector which would stand to gain from increased exports.

In this context, Anil A Bhikadiya, owner of Dharam Export, a mid-sized unit in Surat which manufactures and exports polished diamonds, said, “The existing diamond trading centre in Mumbai does not offer adequate security facilities. BDB will offer a great business environment to both domestic and international diamond merchants trading from there, which could boost exports for SMEs.”

Mr Bhikadiya added that although some diamond merchants operating from the existing diamond trading hub at Opera House in Mumbai are skeptical about shifting to BDB, they should ideally agree to the same as the new centre holds much more promise for them.