The State Bank of India (SBI) will start lending to manufacturers of lab-grown diamonds (LGDs), according to IDEX Online.
India, which produces 15% of the world’s LGDs, “has been calling on the government to invest and help it grow into a $5.1 billion-a-year industry,” as per the report. SBI is owned by the government, and other banks are expected to follow its lead.
Economic Times quotes a senior industry source as saying: “The man-made diamond lobby is becoming stronger by the day. Though volumes are still a fraction of natural diamonds, SBI probably thinks it is an emerging business.”
