GIA India Education has been relocated to the 10th Floor of the Trade Centre, Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), from April 1, 2009 in order to reach out to a greater number of eager students of the gem and jewellery industry. Speaking on this development Nirupa Bhatt, Managing Director, GIA India and Middle East, said, “Being strategically located at Mumbai’s newly developed business area in the BKC, our education staff will be accessible to all students from the western and central regions of Mumbai. %% The centre has state-of-the-art classrooms and professionally managed education programmes. The GIA Education was introduced to India in 2004 having conducted GIA Education programmes for five years. In June 2008, GIA India Laboratory Pvt. Ltd. was launched offering diamond grading services from the same Trade Centre destination at BKC which is now the new location of GIA India Education. Both GIA India Education and GIA India Laboratory grading services will now be offered under one roof, allowing students even more practical and comprehensive exposure to the world of gemstones. %% “GIA India Education will also offer the best in gemmological education beyond the big metropolitan areas to small and medium-size towns across India. We want to attract more students to a career in the gem and jewellery industry. We will also work towards localising our courses and making them more relevant for manufacturers and retailers,” said Bhatt. She added, “We want to specifically work with retailers to empower their sales teams with product knowledge of gemstones and a basic understanding of design and merchandising in order to meet the customer’s need for information, and therefore build their business.”