IIT Madras to receive grant worth Rs 242 crore for research on Lab Grown Diamonds

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 optimise 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 core faculty from Physics, Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering departments of IIT Madras have a good number of core researchers with expertise in various requirements for the same. 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.

India has no know-how in high pressure high temperature (HPHT) technology to grow and treat diamond crystals. The cost involved in importing HPHT machines is very high. Therefore, there is a need for developing indigenously built HPHT equipment and establishing the process know-how of HPHT diamond growth. On the other hand, CVD reactor manufacturers in India import critical components like microwave generators, vacuum pumps, and sensors. Even good-quality diamond seeds are imported.