The bulk of shipments were gold jewellery, which increased almost 50 per cent at $ 416 million , compared to $ 278 million during May 2007, a Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) data revealed.
Gold jewellery is largely exported to the US and UAE. A significant rise in demand from Hong Kong pushed exports of cut and polished diamonds by 42 per cent at $ 1.2 billion , while rough diamonds also spiked at $ 51.64 million dollars, it said.
According to data, India shipped 328 million carats of cut and polished diamonds and 256 million carats of rough diamonds.
Coloured gems, mainly exported to the US and Thailand, increased by 48.46 per cent to $ 34.13 million dollars last month.
Meanwhile, exports during the first two months of the current financial year stood at $ 3.5 billion, up by 33.27 per cent from the previous year.
During 2007-08, gems and jewellery shipments stood at $ 20.88 billion.
