Mumbai: Operations related to the display of rough diamonds at the Special Notified Zone (SNZ) in Bharat Diamond Bourse (BDB) in Mumbai are expected to commence within the next few weeks.

This follows the announcement by the Ministry of Finance, Government of India on 16th Oct. that it had decided to exempt income from display of rough diamonds within a Special Notified Zone (SNZ) from the provisions of the Income-tax Act, 1961 with effect from April 1, 2015. The legislative amendment to the act will be carried out subsequently.

A press release issued by the Ministry of Finance states, “It has been decided that the income arising out of the activity of mere display of uncut diamond (without sorting or sale) inside a Special Notified Zone carried-out on or after 1st April, 2015 will not be taxable under the provisions of the Income-tax Act, 1961. Legislative amendment in this regard will be carried-out through Finance Bill 2016.”

The ministry also added that the matter of taxation was being considered “to facilitate the participation of leading diamond mining companies of the world in this zone.”

GJEPC officials confirmed that all leading diamond mining companies from across the globe including larger, older players and smaller, newer entrants have expressed their interest in bringing rough to India for display at the Zone to facilitate easy viewing by Indian manufacturers.