On Wednesday, 22 June, US President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the White House.

PM Modi will be treated to a private dinner at the White House by President Biden. PM Modi will speak to the joint session of the US Congress later in the day. A handcrafted, ancient American book galley from the early 20th century will be given to PM Modi by US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden as the formal gift. 

President Biden and first wife Jill Biden also exchanged special presents with PM Modi at the event. US President Joe Biden received a unique Mysore sandalwood box from PM Modi that was created by an expert craftsman from Jaipur, Rajasthan. The Lord Ganesha murti, which was created by a family of Kolkata silversmiths working in their fifth generation, is kept in the box.  

A diya (oil lamp), which is kept in a sacred place in every Hindu home, is also included in the box. US First Lady Dr. Jill Biden received a 7.5-carat green diamond from PM Modi. The diamond has the chemical and visual characteristics of earth-mined diamonds. It is also environmentally friendly because it was created using environmentally diverse resources like solar and wind energy, according to some sources. 

It should be noted that the Central government indicated in the Union Budget 2023–24 that it will give a research and development grant to one of the IITs for a duration of five years in order to promote the manufacturing of lab-grown diamonds. A proposal to lower customs taxes on “lab-grown diamond seeds” was also included in the Budget in an effort to lower the cost of producing such diamonds.

How are lab-grown diamonds made? What are they?

CVD diamonds are another name for lab-grown diamonds. Chemical vapour deposition, or CVD in this case, refers to the method used to create these diamonds. They go through roughly the same procedure chemically as diamonds that are found in nature.

To create the seed for a lab-grown diamond, a tiny layer of a natural diamond is first sliced. This seed, which is made entirely of carbon, is polished before being put inside a plasma reactor.

The temperature and pressure inside the plasma reactor are identical to those found beneath the Earth’s surface, where diamonds naturally form. In actuality, other contaminants and gases also penetrate natural diamonds. The situation with lab-grown diamonds is different.

On the original seed, carbon atoms eventually start to separate and form layers. In the end, this results in a rough lab-grown diamond that is identical to a rough natural diamond. The final shape of this raw diamond is achieved through cutting and polishing.