An increasing number of diamond traders from India's Gujarat state are expanding their business to include "value-added" jewelry manufacturing, the Business Standard reports.

According to the Standard, some members of the country's diamond industry believe that the sector has reached its peak and are seeking lateral, rather than upward, growth. KK Sharma, director of the Indian Diamond Institute (a government-funded organization that provides training for the diamond and jewelry sector) said that diamond manufacturers would be forced to continue with their diamond work "at the existing level" unless they "expanded their avenues in terms of forward integration."

To that end, the IDI has developed new courses in jewelry design and manufacturing and set up a new campus in Surat.

International Gemological Institute Managing Director Tehmasp Printer noted that India was a "huge market" for jewelry and that jewelry manufacturing was proving profitable for the diamond dealers who had branched out into that field.

One Surat diamond manufacturer told the Standard that the rising cost of rough diamonds was prompting members of the trade to turn to jewelry-making as a way of maintaining a good profit margin. Jewelry, he said, is in higher demand in the Indian market than loose diamonds.