Special notified zone will boost diamond trade in country: Nirmala Sitharaman

The special notified zone (SNZ) in Mumbai, which was launched on Sunday, would boost diamond trade in the country, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said.

India handles major chunk of global diamond trade and 70% by value and 80% by volume of global trade is contributed by India, she said in her tweets on Monday.

"More than one million skilled & semi skilled work force is contributing to this industry... launch of SNZ faculty at IDTC (India Diamond Trading Centre) here. Mumbai will further boost diamond trade & help India become world leader. This will be great help to small & medium traders," she said.

The zone would facilitate imports and trading of rough diamonds. The zone would also give the diamond industry a strong competitive advantage against other trading centres like Antwerp, Dubai, etc, by saving time as well as foreign exchange spent on travel to these trading centres or establish offices there. It will also ensure steady supply of rough diamonds in the country.