IIT Madras’s InCent-LGD hosts iCDEM 2026, showcasing India’s lab-grown diamond tech advances in quantum, photonics, and energy for global leadership and self-reliance.
Launching India into Lab-Grown Diamond Leadership
IIT Madras is propelling India’s research in diamond-based technologies onto the world stage through its InCent-LGD. Supported by the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry, India Centre for Lab Grown Diamond (InCent-LGD) research group is spearheading indigenous innovations in quantum technologies, photonics, sensing, and metrology using diamond materials. The ambitious initiative aims to position India as a global powerhouse in the lab-grown diamond (LGD) sector. It si fostering self-reliance by equipping startups and industries with homegrown tools for producing gem-quality and electronic-grade diamonds.
Backed by a substantial five-year research grant of Rs. 242.96 crore announced in the Union Budget 2023-2024, InCent-LGD is driving technological sovereignty. Its technologies will empower Indian entrepreneurs, enhance export potential, create jobs, and fuel economic growth through cutting-edge innovation. By bridging academia and industry, the centre is transforming diamonds from luxury gems into versatile materials for high-stakes applications like energy storage, space exploration, and nuclear fusion.
Spotlight on iCDEM 2026 Conference
A landmark event in this journey was the International Conference on Diamond and Emergent Materials – Science and Technology (iCDEM 2026). It was held from March 11 to 13, 2026, on the IIT Madras campus. Organized in partnership with the University of Arizona, USA, and the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), it marked India’s first dedicated global forum on diamond science, quantum technologies, and next-generation electronics. It attracted around 250 researchers, scientists, and industry leaders from materials science, electronics, and quantum fields. The conference highlighted diamond’s exceptional properties: unmatched thermal conductivity, radiation hardness, and durability, ideal for extreme environments.
Diamond’s Transformative Applications
Lab-grown diamonds, are synthesized via methods like Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD) and High-Pressure High-Temperature (HPHT). It offers ethical, sustainable alternatives to mined gems. Beyond jewellery – where India dominates with 90% of global cutting/polishing – LGDs enable breakthroughs in electronics (ultra-wide-bandgap semiconductors), quantum sensing (nitrogen-vacancy centers for precise measurements), photonics (optical windows), and energy (heat sinks for EVs and reactors). iCDEM 2026 emphasized these, particularly for energy, space, and fusion applications, where diamonds outperform silicon or gallium nitride.
Prof. M S Ramachandra Rao, Principal Investigator of InCent-LGD and Chair of iCDEM 2026, underscored the conference’s importance. According to him: “The mission of our Research Group is to establish a National Centre for creation of state-of-the-art facilities for Lab Grown Diamond Technologies that enable process development and optimisation of diamond growth using indigenously-developed technologies. We will also soon be offering courses to train the people needed for Lab-Grown diamond Industry. Global Conferences such as iCDEM 2026 are critical for Indian Researchers to learn from the best scientists in the world and boost Indian Technologies.”
Conference Program and Highlights
Over three dynamic days, iCDEM 2026 featured keynote lectures, invited talks, and technical sessions on CVD diamond growth advances. It also discussed post-processing techniques, diamond-based quantum sensing, photonics, and semiconductor innovations. More than 25 distinguished speakers from across the globe delivered insights. Subjects included nanodiamond technologies, advanced coatings, electronic materials, and emergent ultra-wide-bandgap devices critical for high-power, high-frequency, and harsh-environment electronics. Around 60 poster presentations showcased cutting-edge work from universities and labs, covering synthesis, growth, doping, and characterization of diamond and carbonaceous materials – carbon-based substances engineered for diverse properties. The event integrated modelling, simulation, and AI/ML-driven monitoring to optimize growth processes, ensuring precision, scalability, and industrial viability.
An accompanying industry exhibition united about 25 companies from the diamond and advanced materials ecosystem, displaying laser systems, instrumentation, and processing tech. The conference culminated in an award ceremony honoring outstanding contributions, followed by dialogues on deepening academia-industry ties.
At the closing, Prof. Rao announced iCDEM 2027 for January 27-29, 2027, at IIT Madras.
Insights from InCent-LGD Leaders
Prof. Sathyan Subbiah, Co-Principal Investigator from IIT Madras’s Mechanical Engineering Department, elaborated: “Our objectives are to innovate and improve the technologies for growing lab-grown diamonds and applying them for gems and showing the possibilities beyond jewellery. We are seeing next-gen entrepreneurs in India taking the leap from gems to other technological applications of diamond. Our centre will connect with these industry members who participated in the conference and through joint collaborations with them build technological capabilities that will take India’s LGD sector to new heights.”
Strategic Outcomes and Economic Impact
iCDEM 2026 yielded transformative results by strengthening global collaborations in diamond and emergent technologies, accelerating indigenous developments for LGD self-reliance, and fostering academia-industry synergy for commercialization. It advanced synthesis and applications of diamond and carbonaceous materials, with emphasis on device physics for next-gen electronics.
These outcomes align with India’s Atmanirbhar Bharat vision. The global LGD market, projected at $20 billion by 2030, sees India poised for dominance. It is already exporting $2 billion in polished diamonds yearly. InCent-LGD’s facilities will democratize access, spawning startups in quantum sensors for medical imaging or diamond anvils for fusion research. IIT Madras will train a skilled workforce via upcoming courses, boosting exports, employment (potentially 1 million jobs in LGD by 2028), and GDP from the $100 billion gems sector.
As iCDEM 2027 approaches, InCent-LGD exemplifies how targeted research catapults India from diamond processor to innovator.
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