India poised to become the fastest growing market for diamonds and diamond jewellery, says NDC CEO

Natural Diamond Council (NDC) CEO David Kellie feels India is poised to become the fastest-growing market for diamonds and diamond jewellery. With a combination of a vast consumer base, evolving cultural preferences, a thriving retail landscape, investment potential, and supportive government policies, India offers immense opportunities for the diamond industry. Kellie spoke to CNBC-TV18 about diamond mining and a recent report published by NDC on the environmental impact of the same.

Q: You've recently come out with a report addressing the environmental impact of diamond mining. What are some of the steps that the NDC is taking to reduce the environmental impact of diamond mining?

A: The diamond mining industry has been on the path of environmental protection for over 20 years. In this industry, we protect over 2,000 square kilometres of biodiversity in the countries where diamonds are mined and that's four times the area of the mines. There are strict requirements in order to be able to get a license to mine in terms of both the opening of the mine, the protection of biodiversity, and the restoration at the end of its life. Mining companies have put down significant funds of money to be able to ensure that the areas where the mines are created are restored to their original place.

Companies like De Beers, which is the largest diamond mining company in the world, are committed to being carbon neutral by 2030. They have a number of amazing actions in place in order to be able to achieve that. A big part of that is developing renewable energy in parts of the world where diamonds are mined from. Also the adoption of hydrogen fuel cells and electric vehicles in the trucks that are used in the mining process.

Q: When you talk about carbon footprint and climate change, a lot of customers think LDGs or lab-grown diamonds are a more conscious choice. What's your thought on this and how would you support your side of the story?

A: Yes, it's unfortunate that there is a lot of greenwashing around at the moment. Most lab-grown diamonds are produced in large-scale factories using energy from the grid, using carbon-emitting fuels. So, there is no doubt that there is a misconception on behalf of some consumers.

The natural diamond industry supports over 10 million livelihoods around the world. In India, specifically over one and a half million people are employed in the diamond industry. And again, going back to the countries from which diamonds themselves are recovered, over 80 percent of the value of a natural rough diamond actually stays in that country. So, in terms of conscious choices, a large part of the value of a natural diamond is going towards the communities, going towards the people.

Q: How would you see India adopting both natural and lab-grown diamonds? How would you look at the projection for the next 5-10 years for the sector?

A: Probably one of the fastest growing markets. The biggest markets in the world are the US and China at the moment and India is third to those. But without a doubt, we would anticipate that India will be the fastest-growing market for diamonds and diamond jewellery over the next 10 years.

Q: You can buy a lab-grown diamond at 30 percent of the cost of the natural diamond and a lot of people talk about how you cannot distinguish between lab-grown diamonds and natural diamonds...

A: Natural diamonds are formed between one and three billion years ago, about 100 miles under the surface of the earth. Lab-grown diamonds are produced in a factory in a few weeks. So, there are differences in the crystal structure of a lab-grown diamond and in the nitrogen content of it. All of those can be easily detected by very readily available and not-too-expensive testing equipment.

Q: Also, lab-grown diamonds also need extensive support from machinery and technology. And even then they're priced so low, how do you see them managing those prices?

A: It's the natural curve of technology that as technology improves and gets bigger with scale, it becomes considerably cheaper. And whether you look at televisions or any other technology over the last 20 years when a technology first enters the market is expensive. But as it starts to build with scale, it becomes much cheaper. At the end of the day. It's obviously also once it gets to a scale competition in the market also starts to come into the economics of it. And again, that internal also drives down the prices of the commodities. So it's somewhat inevitable and really just, you know, just the natural curve of how the technology performs.