The Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) and Gemmological Institute of India (GII) inaugurated the Diamond Detection and Resource Center (DDRC) today at H-Tower (West), Bharat Diamond Bourse, Bandra-Kurla Complex, Bandra (E). Chief Guest Varda Shine, Managing Director, Diamond Trade Company (DTC) & Guest of Honor, Paul Rowley, Senior Vice President, Operations Midstream, De Beers Global Sightholders Sales lit the lamp and also inaugurated the center along with Vipul Shah, Chairman, GJEPC. The GII is a project of the GJEPC and is sponsored by BDB, DEAL the GJEA. GII has taken up the responsibility of advising and imparting knowledge on natural / lab-grown diamonds with an objective of promoting fair trade with full disclosures.%% Vipul Shah, Chairman, GJEPC said, “I want to congratulate Kirtilalbhai, Rajendrabhai and his team at the GII for setting up the Diamond Detection and Resource Centre within such a short span of time. The rapid action demanded of the GII was in part driven by the anxiety felt by the trade regarding reports and certain incidences of undisclosed mixing of lab-grown diamonds into diamond parcels. We are happy that GII has capacity to identify any Synthetic stone, with 100% accuracy. We, at GJEPC, condemn any effort of fudging the difference by mixing of the two products. We reassure the industry that we are on the job and will be shortly sending the draft of a declaration which has been worked out with all prominent trade bodies of the world.” The DDRC is a pro-active step to enable companies be it small scale or large to have the means to test any parcel and to gain confidence that lab-grown diamonds are not mixed with natural diamonds. The facility will play a pivotal role in providing the industry with the means to eliminate this issue, while it is still at a nascent stage, thereby ensuring the sanctity of the diamond pipeline. %% Chief Guest Varda Shine, Managing Director, Diamond Trade Company (DTC) said, “It is a pleasure to be here today at the inauguration of the Diamond Detection and Resource Centre (DDRC). India is taking the next step towards growth and technology which will ensure we have the confidence of consumers in diamonds. We are bringing all the necessary measures in place and maintaining the integrity of our industry. With the commencement of this detection center, our consumers are assured of the supply chain. We assure our consumer that we will continue to invest in these initiatives and I thank GJEPC and GII for taking such initiative.” Kirtilal Doshi, Chairman, GII said, “Today’s opening of this Center is another milestone in the 43 year old history of GII. The DDRC was set up in under 4 weeks, at the request of the Diamond Monitoring Committee of the GJEPC. We hope to reach our initial target capacity of about 15,000 stones per day over the next 9-12 months” %% DDRC will provide Detection services for any parcels submitted to them. The centre will also offer resources for creating awareness about lab grown diamonds and testing methods. It will also provide services to diamond companies including technical and on-the-job training of their staff in detection methods. GII has already taken up the task of educating people and eliminating the fear of lab grown diamonds from the minds of the people through seminars in Surat, at Opera house and BKC in Mumbai, Coimbatore, and Cambay and are planning to hold seminars in other diamond centers as well. Along with the detection centre, the Council had formed a Natural Diamond Monitoring Committee along with the various trade associations like GJEPC, BDB, GJF and MDMA to proactively understand the likely issues as well as formulate strategies and make sure that consumer confidence in the industry is maintained through segregation of the natural and man-made diamonds value chain and disclosures at every step.