India seeks diamonds, precious stones from Tanzania

India’s minister of state for commerce, Jairam Ramesh, met with the Tanzanian minister of industry, trade and marketing, Basil P Mramba, in Delhi on May 18 to discuss ways of increasing bilateral trade between the two countries. Ramesh said the setting of gem cutting and polishing projects in Tanzania may be a potential area for growth. He noted that India would be interested in sourcing diamonds, precious stones and platinum from the East African country.

India would like to forge a long-term relationship with Tanzania with regards to sourcing of raw materials while looking to cooperate with Tanzania to help it move towards value added production and manufacturing,” Ramesh said. Bilateral trade between India and Tanzania has gone up from $166 million in 2001-02 to almost $360 million in 2005-06.