De Beers, the world’s largest diamond producer, has said the business in the country will continue to grow this year despite dampened sentiments following Nirav Modi-led PNB fraud. “There has been this banking scandal, that is clearly a fraud, and had certainly dampened sentiments little bit.... But having said that, I think consumer demand in India, as we have Forevermark brand, is doing very well.
“It’s been an unfortunate incident but the demand in India this year would be reversed, would be good and the business in India will continue to grow in 2018,” De Beers Group CEO Bruce Cleaver told PTI here. Diamond merchants Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi are alleged to have perpetrated the country’s biggest banking sector scam of Rs 13,000 crore at Punjab National Bank, mainly by way of issuance of fraudulent letters of Undertaking (loUs). The Centre has also intervened in the bankruptcy proceedings of Nirav Modi firms in the US to protect the interests of PNB. Meanwhile, Cleaver said the consumer sentiment clearly has been good at the moment as the first quarter result was robust in India.