Mumbai: Falling sales and squeezing margins have prompted Indian diamond trade to consider teaming up with miners like Rio Tinto, ALROSA and De Beers and launching a marketing campaign in strategic markets like China, Latin America and the Middle East, reports The Economic Times.

The plan is to rope in international advertising agencies and celebrities to promote diamond that of late has lost its sparkle worldwide. The Indian diamond trade has decided to also seek government help to reduce high import duty in traditional markets like Russia and Indonesia.

“We have taken the decision to launch a promotional campaign for diamonds in key markets to revive exports,” Praveen Shankar Pandya, chairman of the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) said.

“Miners, who are the major stakeholders in the industry, will have to be included in this initiative. Talks have begun with the miners and we are hopeful that the entire thing will be finalized within a month,” he added.

The association will appoint country-specific advertising agencies so that they can easily connect with the local people and come up with campaigns based on the buying trend in those markets, he said.

“Simultaneously, we will pursue with the government to enter into bilateral arrangements with countries like Russia and Indonesia, where the import duty is as high as 15 per cent, so that India can export diamonds to these traditional markets,” he said.

The move comes at a time when the Indian gem and jewellery industry is expected to miss the export target of $43 billion in the fiscal year through March 2016 due to slowing down of demand as well as high cost of finance.

Last year, the industry exported gems and jewellery worth $40 billion. In the first six months of this fiscal year, exports fell 17 per cent.