VAIRAM 2026 Kicks Off at IIT Madras, Spotlighting India’s LGD Expansion

The Vajra Industry Research & Academic Meet (VAIRAM) Workshop 2026, jointly organised by Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) and InCent LGD at Indian Institute of Technology Madras, commenced on 20 February 2026 at the IIT Madras campus in Chennai. The workshop brings together leaders from academia and industry to deliberate on the future trajectory of India’s laboratory-grown diamond (LGD) sector.

The inaugural ceremony was attended by Prof. Manu Santhanam, Dean (IC&SR), IIT Madras; Sanket Patel, Convener – LGD Committee, GJEPC; M.S. Ramachandra Rao, Head of the India Centre for Lab Grown Diamond (InCent-LGD), IIT Madras; Jayanti Savaliya, Gujarat Region Chairperson, GJEPC; Ashish Borda, Convener – PMBD, GJEPC; Mital Doshi, Convener, BITC, GJEPC; and Sabyasachi Ray, Executive Director, GJEPC. Also present were Manish Jiwani, Co-Convener, LGD Panel, GJEPC, and Bharat Ghori, Member, Diamond Panel, GJEPC.

The workshop agenda covers key themes including the journey from research to commercialisation, scaling up HPHT technology, exploring advanced non-gem applications, and establishing robust quality and characterisation standards. Experts from IIT Madras and the industry are leading technical presentations and discussions throughout the day.

On the sidelines of the event, the GJEPC-operated Indian Institute of Gems & Jewellery (IIGJ) and IIT Madras will formalise a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to introduce diploma programmes, reinforcing education and skill development in next-generation diamond technologies.

The occasion also marked the launch of the book Laboratory Grown Diamond – Production Technologies and its Applications, authored by N. Arunachalam, S. Krishnakanth, and T. Mukhilan.