Appreciating Rupee benefits diamond industry

Rising rupee may have hit the margins of the companies in some sectors such as textiles and IT sector, but the Indian diamnod indutry is for cheers with the rupee appreciating against dollar by 10% over the last five to six months. This industry imports rough diamonds worth around Rs. 40,000 Crores. Of these imports, 70 percent come from the US market.

Today, if a diamataire imports, say, one carat rough diamond costing $300, it costs him Rs. 12,000 ($1 = Rs. 40.82), which could have costed him Rs. 14,100 for the same stone if the same was purchased six months ago. "The appreciation of rupee is seen as a big respite to the diamond insutry amid the rising rough diamond prices from the last one year", said Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) Chairman Sanjay Kothari. Mr. Kothari, however, said the industry would be benefited only if the valuation of rupee and dollar remain steady for the next six to seven months.