Surat, the Lab-Grown Diamond City: The Bourse, the Shows and a Sourcing Visit
Most of the world's lab-grown diamonds are cut and polished in one Indian city. What makes Surat the hub, which trade events matter, and how to plan a sourcing visit.
Surat has cut and polished the large majority of the world's diamonds for decades. In the last few years it has become something more: the place where laboratory-grown diamonds are grown, planned, cut, polished, traded and, more and more, set into jewellery. If you buy lab-grown diamonds, as a shopper or as a jeweller, the odds are high that yours passed through this city. Here is what makes it the hub.
The Surat Diamond Bourse
On 17 December 2023, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Surat Diamond Bourse, recognised by Guinness World Records as the world's largest office building, with more floor space than the Pentagon. Built for the diamond and jewellery trade, it brings thousands of company offices together with the services that international trade depends on, including customs clearance, banking and secure vaults. For decades, much of India's diamond trading and exporting ran through Mumbai while the cutting happened in Surat. The bourse brings trading and export logistics to where the diamonds are actually made.
The trade events that matter
IIJS Bharat Premiere, Mumbai
India's largest jewellery show, organised by GJEPC. The 2026 edition ran from 5 to 9 August at the Jio World Convention Centre and 6 to 10 August at the Bombay Exhibition Centre, with a dedicated section for lab-grown diamonds, loose and set.
GJEPC buyer-seller meets
Focused trade events where overseas and Indian buyers meet manufacturers in arranged meetings. GJEPC runs dedicated meets for lab-grown diamonds and jewellery, including in Surat.
Workshop visits
Many buyers combine a Mumbai show with a day or two in Surat to see growing, cutting and setting first-hand.
A growing research base
India's Union Budget 2023-24 announced a five-year research grant to build domestic lab-grown diamond technology, and IIT Madras was chosen to host the India Centre for Lab-Grown Diamond (InCent-LGD), with funding of about ₹242 crore. Its work covers reactor and growth technology, seed plates, so that growers rely less on imports, and diamond for electronics. For buyers, a stronger domestic supply chain means steadier supply and quality.
Why it matters to you
For shoppers
- Shorter supply chains, from reactor to ring in one region
- Manufacturer prices when you buy direct
- Clear origin for your diamond
For jewellers
- Melee to certified solitaires from one city
- Finished and private-label jewellery made locally
- Easier sourcing trips with many makers close together
Planning a sourcing visit
- Time it with a show. Pair IIJS in Mumbai with a Surat visit; Surat is about an hour's flight or a few hours by train from Mumbai.
- Send specs ahead. Shapes, sizes, grades and quantities, so stones are ready to view.
- Book meetings. Manufacturers keep busy schedules around shows.
- Bring your paperwork. Company documents for trade accounts, and your broker's contact for shipping home.
Our own showroom is on Varachha Road in Surat, and our family business, Sheladiya Diamond, has worked in the city since 1983. You are welcome to book a visit or a video appointment; trade buyers can also browse loose stones in advance on Zarna B2B. For the numbers behind the city's rise, see India's lab-grown exports in numbers, and for the craft, how a diamond is cut and polished in Surat.
Made in Surat: halo pendants from our workshop
Why is Surat called the diamond city?
Because the large majority of the world's diamonds, natural and laboratory-grown, are cut and polished there.
When did the Surat Diamond Bourse open?
It was inaugurated on 17 December 2023.
When is IIJS Premiere?
Usually in late July or August in Mumbai; the 2026 edition ran from 5 to 10 August across two venues. Check GJEPC for the next dates.
