HRD Antwerp increases Mumbai grading capacity by 30%, enabling up to 2,000 diamonds a day while reinforcing the India–Belgium natural diamond partnership.
Key Highlights
- Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever inaugurated HRD Antwerp’s expanded Mumbai laboratory.
- The Bandra Kurla Complex facility has increased its capacity by 30%.
- The laboratory can now grade up to 2,000 diamonds per day.
- HRD Antwerp will recruit 40 additional employees.
- India now contributes 59% of HRD Antwerp’s global revenue.
- Jewellery grading accounts for 47% of the company’s revenue growth.
- The expansion reinforces Belgium–India cooperation in the global natural diamond trade.
Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever officially inaugurated HRD Antwerp’s renovated and significantly expanded laboratory in Mumbai’s Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), marking another milestone in the longstanding partnership between Belgium and India in the global natural diamond industry.
The inauguration formed part of the Prime Minister’s two-day visit to India and represents the next phase of HRD Antwerp’s growth in one of the world’s most important centres for the trade and cutting of natural diamonds. With the expansion, the laboratory has increased its research and grading capacity by 30%, enabling it to examine and grade up to 2,000 diamonds per day.
The investment also supports the recruitment of 40 additional full-time employees, reflecting HRD Antwerp’s continued confidence in the Indian market and its commitment to strengthening cooperation with the country’s diamond and jewellery sector.
India drives HRD Antwerp’s global growth
HRD Antwerp, Europe’s leading authority in diamond and jewellery grading and a subsidiary of the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC), has been active in India since 2012. Today, it serves around 1,500 clients, including jewellery manufacturers, retailers and companies involved in the production and trade of cut natural diamonds.
The Indian business has become central to the organisation’s global operations, contributing 59% of HRD Antwerp’s total group revenue. The company expects its India business to grow by 15.4% this year, compared with a projected 12.6% growth for the group overall. Jewellery grading continues to be a major growth driver, accounting for 47% of the company’s total revenue increase.
For HRD Antwerp, a grading report represents more than documentation—it serves as a guarantee of trust, transparency and authenticity, reinforcing the organisation’s longstanding role as an independent and objective authority in natural diamond and jewellery grading.
Investment in India’s diamond ecosystem
Speaking at the inauguration, Paul De Wachter, CEO of HRD Antwerp, highlighted the strategic importance of India’s role in the global natural diamond value chain.
Paul De Wachter, CEO of HRD Antwerp, said:
“The visit of our Prime Minister underlines the importance of cooperation between Belgium and India within the global diamond sector. India and Antwerp together form two indispensable links in the international diamond chain. With this expansion, we are investing not only in additional capacity, but above all in the future of our cooperation with the Indian diamond and jewellery sector.”
Meeting growing demand for precision grading
The expanded Mumbai laboratory has been designed to respond to increasing domestic and international demand for reliable and highly accurate grading services.
Ramakant Mitkar, Managing Director of HRD Antwerp India, said:
“India’s rapid growth is creating strong demand for reliable, highly precise grading. That is why we at HRD Antwerp are continuing our growth path undiminished and expanding our capacity in Mumbai to meet the sharply rising domestic and international demand. Thanks to our established regional presence in Surat, Jaipur, Kolkata, New Delhi, Hyderabad and the Mega CFC of SEEPZ, every location draws on more than fifty years of gemological expertise at HRD Antwerp, so that we can guarantee full transparency in the most important trading centres.”
Prime Minister tours the laboratory
During the inauguration, Prime Minister Bart De Wever toured the renovated facility, observed the diamond grading process and examined a diamond through a microscope during a demonstration conducted by HRD Antwerp’s Indian experts.
The ceremony was attended by Paul De Wachter, CEO of HRD Antwerp; Ramakant Mitkar, Managing Director of HRD Antwerp India; Chirag Shah, Vice Chairman of AWDC; Didier Vanderhasselt, Belgian Ambassador to India; and Frank Geerkens, Consul General of Belgium in Mumbai.
A message of trust between nations
During his visit, Prime Minister Bart De Wever wrote a message in HRD Antwerp’s guestbook that reflected the enduring relationship between Belgium and India through the diamond trade.
“Sicut adamas fulget, ita fiducia inter gentes monet. As a diamond shines, so trust endures between nations.”
The expansion further reinforces Mumbai’s growing role within the international natural diamond ecosystem while strengthening the historic partnership between India’s diamond industry and Antwerp’s globally recognised diamond trade.
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