Surat Diamond Association President Babu Bhai N Gujarati and Mr. Gourav Sethi, Exhibition Convenor and Board Member told that SDA is consistently working towards the growth of diamond industry and endeavors to keep it on the forefront of the world map. SDA takes great pride in announcing an exclusive showcase of loose diamonds "CARATS - Surat Diamond Expo" which will prove as a landmark event by opening new avenues for the Small and Medium scale diamond enterprises and boost B2B transactions by bringing SME's directly in touch with big buyers. Surat's connectivity with major rail, road and Air routes will prove to be an added advantage. The exhibition will be held on 10, 11, 12 July 2018 in Surat .

The exhibition brings together on a single platform in three days all operators of retail and wholesale trade, distributors, importers and exporters. The event will welcome around 10,000 global visitors and showcase comprehensive varieties of diamonds including round and fancy shapes, polki, rose cut and fancy color.

Mr. Gourav Sethi shared every detail about the exhibition and the visit of Mr. Martin Rapaport. Excerpts from the interview :

Mr. Martin Rapaport who decides the loose diamond selling prices and publishes Diamond price list every Friday and is a renowned name and respected personality all over the world in the gems and jewellery fraternity . He is very excited about the exhibition and coming to Surat for the 1 hour worshop/conference on 10th July at CARATS-SURAT DIAMOND EXPO. Mr. Martin will speak about the present and future of the diamond industry. It will be his first ever conference for non Rapnet members as well.

How did u manage to keep Exhibitor charges 40,000 and 45,000 so low ?

Yes, you are right. Usually, Booth Charges are exorbitant in a Jewellery exhibition starting minimum 1.25 L, but we almost kept 1/3 price.

No Visitor Registration Form or brochure have been printed which saved a huge cost on printing.

No paid promotion is happening through Facebook as it's a B2B exhibition and we only want the trade community to attend our show. We have also tied up with magazines, news papers for the news and sending e-newsletters which will reach 80,000 mail boxes of gem and jewellery industry world wide.

Through CARATS, we mainly wish to promote small and medium entrepreneurs and thereby bringing them in touch with new buyers. We wanted that 75% exhibitors must be new who would get to showcase their product for the first time.

Why didn't u allow Jewellery Exhibitors ?

Already so many jewellery exhibitions are happening every month in every state of India. Every Jewellery manufacturer and jeweler is in search of cheap diamonds . Diamond being the most valuable part of any jewellery and Surat being the hub of diamonds, CARATS will give them new suppliers who will showcase Natural Loose Diamonds and all type of diamonds like rose cut, polki , natural fancy colored etc .

Why did you choose Saurashtra Bhawan as venue?

Saurashtra Bhawan is located in the heart of diamond manufacturing and trading units of Surat. All trading and manufacturing activities take place in 1Km radius of Saurashtra Bhawan which is merely 2 Km away from railway station. Traders can reach the venue easily.

What are the plans to attract visitors from PAN India

Apart from e-marketing, we are inviting buyers from PAN India to get benefitted through ' Hosted Buyer Program'. Under this program we are giving 1 night complimentary stay in a 3 star hotel including breakfast.

We have sent invitations to all major trade organizations in India and abroad.

Security is the main concern in a diamond exhibition, how will u deal with it?

Aadhaar Card is the aadhaar of security in our exhibition. SDA will be the pioneer in using it as a security tool in an exhibition. Original Aadhaar card is must at the time of entry. CC T.V. Camera 's will be installed everywhere in the exhibition area with tight security .

What are the Visitor Charges?

The registration is completely free till 30th June on SDA website www.sdasurat.org However, on spot registration will be chargeable.