India reduces direct rough diamond imports from Russia 62% to $106 mln in H1

MOSCOW. Aug 14 (Interfax) - India reduced direct imports of rough diamonds from Russia 62% to $106 million in H1 2026 from $281 million a year previously, the Indian Commerce and Industry Ministry said.

India imported $406 million of rough diamonds from Russia in 2025, down 39% from 2024.

India's total rough diamond imports fell 16% year-on-year to $7.1 billion in H1 2026.

Diamond imports from the UAE fell 27% in H1 2026 to $3.17 billion, imports from Hong Kong grew 48% to $1.44 billion, supplies from Belgium fell 18% to $813 million and from the U.S. they fell 11% to $822 million.

India's imports of Russian diamonds began to decline in annual terms in April 2024, possibly due to G7 sanctions against Russian diamonds going into effect.

India is the world's largest producer of polished diamonds, accounting for nine-tenths of all polished diamonds, predominantly small ones, which used to be made mostly from Russian rough diamonds.