India’s polished diamond exports rose by 19.37 per cent and gold jewellery exports (both studded and plain) were up by 8.72 per cent during the month of October, according to provisional data released by The Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC).

During October, rough imports were up by 22.71 per cent in value terms during the month to US$ 990.09 million as compared to US$ 806.84 million imported during the previous October. In volume terms, rough imports increased from 9.44 mn carats during October 2017 to 9.66 mn carats during October this year.

The GJEPC data further mentions that the exports of cut and polished diamonds from the country during the month stood at US$ 2.31 billion rising 19.37 per cent over the US$ 1.93 bn exported in October 2017. Imports of cut and polished diamonds were down by 33.12 per cent to US$ 92.11 mn in October 2018 from US$ 137.73 mn a year earlier.

Polished diamond exports during April-October 2018 were up 8.37 per cent to US$ 14.99 bn as against the US$ 13.83 bn exported over the same months last year, while imports of polished diamonds fell by 35.90 per cent to US$ 860.71 million as compared to US$ 1,342.70 million for the same period of previous year.

During the fiscal year to date, import of rough diamonds showed a decline of 5.64 per cent to US$ 9.41 bn from US$ 9.97 bn a year earlier. In volume terms, imports fell by 6.16 per cent from 100.50 mn cts in April-October 2017 to 94.31 mn cts in the same period this year.

Coloured gemstone exports rose by 14.81 per cent in October 2018 to US$ 23.57 million as compared to US$ 20.53 million exported during the same month a year earlier.