Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Union Budget speech today announced that a research grant will be provided to one of the IITs for five years to encourage the indigenous production of lab-grown diamonds.

“Lab-grown diamonds is a technology and innovation-driven energy-driven sector with high employment potential,” the Finance Minister said in her budget speech.

Lab grown diamonds are diamonds that are produced using specific technology which mimics the geological processes that grow natural diamonds.

The finance minister also announced a reduction in  the Customs Duty levied on the import of seeds used for lab-grown diamonds in order to give the sector a boost.

“The grant provided to IIT for lab-grown diamonds is a positive. The segment has seen a steep 54 percent growth in exports year-on-year, and accounted for 5 percent of total diamond exports in 2022-23,” CRISIL said in a statement.