Jaipur (Rajasthan) [India], August 23 : Union minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday reiterated lab-grown diamonds are the same as that natural ones and added the central government will now include those in Free Trade Agreement talks with other countries.
Minister Goyal made the remarks while speaking at a press conference in Jaipur ahead of the two-day G20 Trade and Investment Ministerial Meetings scheduled to start Thursday.
The five priority areas of the meeting are growth and prosperity to trade; resilient global value chains; integrating MSMEs in global trade; logistics for trade; and WTO reform.
"I want to share with you some good news. India is playing a big role in Lab-grown diamonds. A decision has been taken at a global level that lab-grown diamonds are not artificial diamonds, they are not synthetic diamonds, they are equivalent to natural diamonds. The United States has recognised that Lab-grown diamond are not artificial diamonds. Lab-grown diamond is like natural diamond." Goyal said.
Lab Grown Diamonds (LGD) is a technology innovation-driven emerging sector with high employment potential. These environment-friendly diamonds which have optically and chemically the same properties as natural diamonds.
To encourage indigenous production of LGD seeds and machines and to reduce import dependency, the government in its 2023 Budget announced that a research and development grant will be provided to one of the IITs for five years.
Also, it was proposed to reduce the custom duty rate on LGD seeds from 5 per cent to nil.
Earlier in the day, Minister Piyush Goyal also held a bilateral meeting with the Director General of WTO.
“Held a bilateral meeting with Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director General, WTO at Jaipur on the sidelines of G20 Trade & Investment Ministerial Meeting. India stands committed to free and fair trade by strengthening and reforming the rules-based multilateral trading system,” Goyal wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
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