India's Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) has decided to ban imports of diamonds from Zimbabwe's Marange diamond fields in light of continued reports of human rights abuses perpetrated in that area, the DailyIndia.com news website reports.

Regional Chairman of the GJEPC in Surat, Chandrakant Sanghvi, said that India would only import Zimbabwe diamonds if and when all countries reached a consensus on the matter. Since the Kimberley Process' recent decision to allow Zimbabwe to export its diamonds still faced opposition from European nations and from the US, India had decided not to accept imports of Marange diamonds, Sanghvi explained.

 

Sanghvi, however, acknowledged that the ban on trade in Zimbabwe diamonds and the resulting shortage in rough product posed a problem for the diamond industry in Surat, one of the world's major diamond manufacturing centers. Importing diamonds from Zimbabwe could provide many people with a livelihood, he said.

The Zimbabwean news site reports that India's refusal to accept imports of Marange diamonds comes as a financial blow to Zimbabwe's government, which has been calculating on some $100 million in annual revenue from diamond sales to India.