During the month of May India's diamond industry has exported a $888 million worth of polished diamonds, a drop of 34.2% compared to the same month last year, while volume by carat was 17% lower than last year, at an average value of $314.30 per carat, Idex online reported.



In comparison, India's diamond industry imported $589 million worth of rough diamonds during the month of May, a drop of 45.5% compared to May 2008. The volume of imports declined 35.5% to 9.061 million carats.



One reason for the lower import levels of rough diamonds into India is the very large inventory of polished diamonds in India, at a time of low consumer demand, which has forced manufacturers to decrease capacity.

India's diamond industry has suffered greatly from the global recession, forcing the lay-offs of hundreds of thousands of skilled diamond workers.