De Beers aims to open 100 Forevermark stores in India by 2030, as it taps into the world’s second biggest market for natural diamond jewelry after the US.It expects demand in India, currently at around $10bn, to double in that time.

De Beers plans to open 15 of its prestige Forevermark stores in Delhi and Mumbai in 2025, with a goal of reaching 100 stores in 40 cities by 2030.

India’s natural diamond jewellery market is currently valued at around $10 billion and is expected to double to $20 billion by 2030, with an annual growth rate of about 12%. This robust growth is fueled by rising incomes, a young population, increasing financial independence among women, and a cultural affinity for jewellery.

The aggressive expansion by De Beers and other major players is expected to accelerate the penetration of diamond jewellery in India, which, while growing, still lags behind gold in terms of household adoption.

Al Cook, the company’s CEO, , said: “We’re very confident in the future of India. It has become the second largest market for natural diamond jewellery globally, overtaking China last year.”We’ve seen double-digit growth for the last few years, and we actually see natural diamond demand in India, which is growing at 12 per cent annually, to double over the next five years by 2030.”