Chief Guest of this morning’s inauguration and my colleague-in-service Shri S. N. Menon – Commerce Secretary, Government of India, distinguished office bearers of various association and the institute, Shri Kirtibhai Doshi, Shri Bakul Mehta, Shri Rajiv Bhandari, Smt. Nirupa Bhatt, Dr. Rao from Ministry of Commerce and all others seated on the podium, distinguished ladies and gentlemen.

For starters let me compliment the initiative shown by the four associations who have got together and signed a very important Memorandum of Understanding, in what I feel is a very significant area of trade and industry in terms of the type of trade transactions and trade turnover which is being registered year-after-year. But it would have been great if a similar function was also organized and probably inaugurated for starting the Bharat Diamond Bourse, which hopefully is also getting under way. Let us hope that some time, at least next year, that will also get cracking.

Having had more than a peripheral association with the industry, there are some thoughts which I would like to share. Normally if you are associated with the industry you talk of the 4Cs – particularly the 3 Cs of Cut, Colour and Clarity. But let me add that apart from these, there are Triple Cs, which I might say, in terms of Consumer, Confidence and Credibility. I think that is really the challenge where this industry in India is concerned. With increased globalization taking place and increased flow of material without trade barriers in different parts of the globe, you have all sort of materials coming into the country and in your trade and industry. But the real challenge is to distinguish the real from the artificial. So an institute of this nature would play a tremendous role in ensuring that this sort of credibility is restored to India.

Today if you see any jewellery piece, probably 7 out of 10 diamonds has an Indian origin. 70% of diamonds’ turnover around the world has an Indian origin in terms of being cut and polished in some factory in India . So that being the strength which the Indian entrepreneurs have, I think we need to cement the type of credibility vis-à-vis the consumers and in terms of building up the confidence level, so that the “Made in India ” tag has the necessary pulling power today. I think this is extremely critical for all those in the trade and industry, because this is where the real challenge lies.

I mean if you look at India , it’s a very peculiar mix of contradictions. Even in your trade, for instance, if you talk of gems, there is the pull of traditions because you associate the power of the planets with certain stones. A marketing guy, if you show him your palm or your horoscope, will certainly say that you have a certain ‘dosh’. Therefore you buy diamonds or sapphires from him. So on one hand there is the power of planets or the traditions of the orthodoxy which goes along in this industry. On the other hand it is in terms of a fashion statement. But I believe that diamonds are not just a girl’s best friend; it’s much more than that. It’s much more than a mere fashion statement. Because it is something which has turned extremely scientific in terms of the industry connotations. And, therefore I think the Education Centre has a very key role to play today. And it is in this Centre that you would be able to make the final distinctions which will build-up the sort of credibility which I had mentioned earlier.

Implicit in all this is that there is creativity in this industry and today’s economy fundamentally is a creative economy. The economic means of production is no longer land, labour and capital. It is and will be knowledge. This is what Peter Drucker said and how true it is turning out to be. Because it this knowledge industry – the individual and knowledge – which really turns the wheels of production and triggers off economic growth. And therefore the importance of this Centre, which is going to be a knowledge-producing centre.

My only appeal would be that alongside being a knowledge-producing centre and knowledge-producing society, let us also be a knowledge-sharing society. Let this industry expand. Let the canvas expand, so that more and more people, young girls and boys, get associated into this particular industry. Because my own perception, as I have said since I have been in it, is that this industry is still perceived as being controlled by certain families. Now let the dynastic culture move over to a much wider canvas in terms of sharing of this knowledge with centres like this Education Centre is going to produce.

So ladies and gentlemen, I must thank you for having invited me for this very significant event. This is an industry which one cannot ignore in terms of turnover; it’s probably one of the highest. Maybe Textiles is the highest in terms of the net foreign exchange. But in terms of the variety and employment generated, it is extremely important that it is nurtured with the right policy prescriptions. Mr. Menon, who is here in the Ministry of Commerce, has taken the initiative in terms of having a more pragmatic approach to this industry. And on behalf of the Government of Maharashtra also, we do recognize that this is a very important segment of the Indian industry and particularly Maharashtra ’s industry.