Exports of polished diamonds from India showed an increase of 4.36% in February 2015 to a level of $ 2.3 billion (3 million carats) compared to $ 2.2 billion (3.33 million carats) in February last year, according to data released by the Council on promotion of exports of precious stones and jewelry (Gem & Jewelery Export Promotion Council, GJEPC) of India.
In the period from April 2014 to February 2015, polished exports stood at $ 21.4 billion (31.7 million carats), compared to $ 22.5 billion (33.36 million carats) in the same period last year, a decline of 5%.
Diamond exports showed a decline of 22% to $ 87.7 million (2.26 million carats) in February this year compared to February 2014, when the same figure reached $ 112.6 million (2.74 million carats). Between April 2014 and February 2015, the same figure for diamond exports fell 9.8% to $ 1.2 billion (29.8 million carats), compared to $ 1.4 billion (38.3 million carats) for the same period last year .
Import of diamonds was at the level of $ 1.1 billion (11.37 million carats) in February this year compared with $ 1.4 billion (13.5 million carats) in February 2014, a decline of 23%. Over the period from April last year to February this year, rough imports remained virtually unchanged from the same period last year, a decline of just 0.2% from $ 15.3 billion (151.66 million carats) to $ 15.2 billion (139 , 19 million carats).
Imports of polished diamonds fell 15% to $ 405 million in February 2015 from a level of $ 478 million a year earlier. Over the period from April 2014 to February 2015, it increased by 12% to 6.4 billion from $ 5.7 billion a year earlier.
The decline in polished imports in February this year is due to the steps taken by the Government of India to reduce this figure.