Budget 2023: IIT Madras to get Rs 242 cr for research on lab grown diamonds

In what may be a gamechanger in the diamond sector, the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) will be provided a grant of Rs 242 crore over a period of five years to undertake research on Lab Grown Diamonds (LGD). This research will be focused on driving indigenization of the LGD manufacturing process.

“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,” finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Wednesday in her Budget. As per a recommendation made by Department of Commerce, the research grant of Rs. 242 crore over a period of five years to IIT Madras has been approved.

“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. It is a historic moment for IIT Madras for being selected for implementation of such an important project, output of which will be a crucial component of Atmanirbhar Bharat,” said V Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras.

The research grants will go towards various departments and research groups of the Institute that are involved in this field. IIT Madras has a rich history of undertaking cutting-edge and translational research with significant applications in industry and society.

“The India Centre for Lab Grown Diamonds (InCent-LGD) at IIT Madras was identified for this prestigious project based on our nearly two decades of work experience in diamond research wherein we have developed many technologies for industry, space and defence sectors. We are honoured to contribute to the initiatives of the Government of India to boost Research and Development efforts in Diamond growth to make India #1 country in producing good quality diamond crystals,” said MS Ramachandra Rao, Department of Physics, IIT Madras.

The global diamond market demands bigger and high pure lab-grown diamond crystals for commercial and electronic applications. There is a need for research and development to conduct systematic studies to optimize the process parameters to grow high pure large-volume and scalable diamond crystals, which will help India to become the world leader in lab-grown diamonds, the institute said in a statement.

The core faculty from physics, mechanical engineering and electrical engineering departments of IIT Madras also have a good number of core researchers with expertise in various requirements listed above.  The upcoming centre will also recruit a good number of additional man-power to run the research on LGD that would be established at the IIT Madras Research Park and IIT Madras laboratories.

 “The growing demand for lab-grown diamonds requires dedicated research to realise not only gem-quality diamonds but also to realise a plethora of electronic applications (5G/6G, magnetometry, thermal management, sensors and quantum technologies). The science and technology of diamond growth processes are complicated to understand, and most of the machines, especially HPHT (High Pressure High Temperature), are imported in India. Moreover, the reactor manufacturers do not provide recipes to realise single crystal diamonds,” Rao said.