IIT Madras to Develop Lab Grown Diamonds Mentioned in Union Budget 2023: Important Details

IIT Madras, as per a recommendation made by the Department of Commerce, will be provided a grant of Rs 242 Crore over a period of five years to undertake research on Lab Grown Diamonds (LGD), which was announced in Union Budget 2023. The research grants will be provided to various departments and research groups of the Indian Institute of Madras that are undertaking research in this field.

In the Union Budget 2023 presented on 1 February 2023, Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Finance Minister, Government of India, had said, “Lab grown Diamonds (LGD) is a technology and innovation-driven emerging sector with high employment potential. These environment-friendly diamonds have optically and chemically the same properties as natural diamonds. To encourage indigenous production of LGD seeds and machines and to reduce import dependency, a research and development grant will be provided to one of the IITs for five years.”

The India Centre for Lab Grown Diamonds (InCent-LGD) at IIT Madras has been identified for the project based on nearly two decades of work experience in diamond research, and the centre has apparently developed many technologies for industry, space and defence sectors. “This is indeed the right time to set up a diamond factory in India, given that diamonds have thermal and electrical properties making it superior to contemporary technologies like silicon, silicon carbide and gallium nitride. IIT Madras will work towards producing diamond wafers suitable for electronic applications,” said Prof V Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras.

The institute says that while the core faculty from physics, mechanical engineering and electrical engineering departments have a good number of core researchers with expertise in the requirements needed for the lab, the upcoming centre will also recruit a good number of additional man-power to run the research on Lab Grown Diamonds that would be established at the IIT Madras Research Park and IIT Madras laboratories.

Why the Impetus to Lab Grown Diamonds in Union Budget 2023?

This initiative has been announced as India is currently lagging as far as the knowledge in high pressure high temperature (HPHT) technology in growing and treating diamond crystals is concerned. In addition to that, importing HPHT machines is extremely expensive. Hence the Indian Government feels that developing indigenously built high pressure high temperature equipment as well as learning about the process involved in diamond growth is pertinent to make India self-sustainable in the lab grown diamonds sector.