The Bharat Diamond Bourse (BDB) in Mumbai is to ban trade in lab-grown diamonds following a vote by members at the bourse’s annual general meeting (AGM).
The vote, which was moved by the president of BDB, Anoop Mehta, was carried by 182 to 23.
“[The m]ajority of the traders in BDB are in favour of banning synthetic diamond trading,” said Mehta, as reported by the Times of India. “The detection of synthetic diamonds is very slow, expensive and cumbersome. In small goods, below 2 cent, it is difficult to detect synthetic stones. Needless to say, it is better for the traders to ban the trading in synthetic stones at BDB.”
The ban follows the 2013 decision by the Israel Diamond Exchange (IDE) to ban lab-grown diamonds from the trading floor of the exchange, although these goods can be traded in the rest of the building.
