For decades, the global rough diamond trade has largely revolved around a small handful of established centres, Dubai and Antwerp chief among them. Now, India is making a genuinely strategic move to reshape that landscape.
What Is Actually Being Proposed?
India's lower house of Parliament has introduced a bill offering a full income tax exemption to eligible foreign companies selling qualifying rough diamonds through Special Notified Zones in Mumbai and Surat, home to the Bharat Diamond Bourse and the Surat Diamond Bourse. The exemption covers miners, brokers, aggregators, auction operators and sightholders.
If fully approved, the incentive will run for fifteen years, from the 1st of October 2026 through to the 31st of March 2041. To qualify, the rough diamonds need to be unworked, or only lightly sawn, cleaved or bruted, and accompanied by a Kimberley Process Certificate.
A Bigger Deal Than A Simple Tax Break
Until now, foreign miners have generally only been permitted to display rough diamonds in these zones without being taxed for doing so, essentially a showcase rather than a genuine marketplace. This bill turns display into actual trade, bringing the source of supply meaningfully closer to the world's largest cutting and polishing industry.
What It Could Mean For The Industry?
For India's cutting and polishing sector, particularly smaller businesses, easier access to rough diamonds within the country could reduce procurement costs and shorten supply chains. For international mining companies, it offers another meaningful gateway into one of the industry's most important markets, with the certainty of a clear, long-term tax position.
Does This Challenge Dubai And Antwerp?
Not necessarily, and not immediately. Dubai and Antwerp did not become the centres they are purely through tax policy; they built deep infrastructure and decades of trust that legislation cannot replicate overnight. That said, India already has the world's largest cutting and polishing base sitting in the same country as this proposed trading zone, which gives the incentive real weight.
Worth Watching Closely
Whether this fully shifts global trade away from Dubai and Antwerp remains genuinely uncertain. But it signals India's clear ambition to play a much bigger role in the future of the diamond industry, and that ambition alone is worth keeping an eye on.
Could this be the move that positions India alongside Dubai and Antwerp as a global rough diamond trading centre? It is certainly the most serious attempt in years.