India's August polished diamond exports rose 3 percent year on year to $2.373 billion and polished imports increased 14 percent to $1.571 billion, according to provisional data provided by the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council. India's net polished exports, however, fell 15 percent to $802 million.

Rough diamond imports jumped 20 percent to $830 million while rough exports surged 57 percent to $141 million. India's net rough imports therefore increased 15 percent to $689 million. For the month of August, India registered a net diamond account --the total of polished and rough exports less the total of polished and rough imports-- of $113 million compared with $342 million in August 2010.

For the 2011 calendar year-to-date, India's polished diamond exports rose 33 percent to $19.958 billion while polished imports surged 76 percent to $15.774 billion. Rough imports were up 38 percent to $10.315 billion and rough exports jumped 68 percent to $1.036 billion. India's net diamond account for the first eight months of 2011 registered a substantial polished export deficit of $5.095 billion compared with a deficit of $1.16 billion one year ago.