# Lab-grown diamonds gain ground in India’s smaller cities 2026-08-17T20:52:07+00:00 | Business & Economy | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet (2 source reports) Lab-grown diamonds (LGDs) are moving beyond India's metros, gaining traction in tier-2 and tier-3 cities as the price gap with natural stones widens, The Economic Times reports. The discount on LGDs against natural diamonds has widened to as much as 90% this year from about 70% in 2025. A premium-quality LGD carat now costs around Rs 50,000-80,000, compared with Rs 2.0-3.5 lakh for a natural diamond carat. Industry executives say LGDs now account for nearly 10% of India's Rs 80,000 crore diamond market. Lisa Mugdhekar, founder of LGD brand Aukera, said North and South India are front runners in adopting LGDs, with West India picking up. Pooja Madhavan of Limelight Lab Grown Diamonds noted that rising gold prices and greater awareness are driving demand in emerging markets. Vaibhav Karnavat of House of Quadri said a two-carat lab-grown solitaire can be 80-90% more affordable than a comparable natural diamond. India produces around 20 million carats of LGDs annually, giving jewellers a growing domestic supply base. Demand is rising in cities including Pune, Indore, Jaipur, Lucknow, Surat, Nagpur, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai. Limelight now has about 80 stores in 45 cities and plans to exceed 100 by 2026. ## Coverage - economictimes.indiatimes.com - retail.economictimes.indiatimes.com This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above. Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources. Last updated 2026-08-18T05:21:56+00:00. Tags: Aukera, India, lab-grown diamonds, Limelight Lab Grown Diamonds Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/lab-grown-diamonds-gain-traction-in-smaller-indian-cities/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/lab-grown-diamonds-gain-traction-in-smaller-indian-cities/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/