Mumbai: India’s gross exports of cut and polished diamonds (CPD) have gone down heavily by more than 40% in February 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Totals were down from $2.34bn in February 2019 to $1.38bn for this February, according to The Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC).

But exports of gold jewelry were up, as were overseas sales of polished lab-grown diamonds, albeit from a low base ($23.35m to $37.05m).
About 40 per cent of the country’s rough and polished diamond sales are to Hong Kong, where imports were halted on 15 January because of Covid-19 and have yet to resume.