T. Rajasekhar, a veteran synthetic gem cutter and polisher in Tiruchi, seen with the prototype of his machine made with Indian components.

At the age of 72, T. Rajasekhar, a manufacturer of synthetic gems in Tiruchi, reckons that he can give a push to an industry that has been hit by cheap imports from China.

The self-taught innovator, who has studied up to Class 5, has done this by dismantling a Chinese cutting and polishing machine and making an Indian model with parts sourced from Coimbatore, Bengaluru and Gujarat. The metal frames of the device were produced by heavy engineering firms in Thuvakudi and Tiruchi.

Mr. Rajasekhar shut down work at his Karthick Diamonds firm for over nearly two years to assemble the Indian variant. “I have been part of this sector since childhood, and this is one way to help revive the traditional craft that once made Tiruchi famous,” he said.

“I was nervous when I decided to take apart the machine that I had bought for ₹24 lakh in 2018, because I wasn’t sure that I’d be able to make it work again. And for a while, I thought the project had failed when both the original and my new machine did not work in the trials. But after a lot of research and head-scratching, I realised that it was just a missing nut that was causing the problem. I had to spend ₹3,000 on a solution that cost only ₹30!” Mr. Rajasekhar told The Hindu.

Automation has reduced the time spent on cutting and polishing the artificial gem stones to a matter of minutes. “In the manual method, we’d consider it an achievement if we produced 100 stones in a day, with several workers. Today, we can get 100 stones in minutes, through the cartridge-driven machinery,” said Mr. Rajasekhar.

Weighing over one tonne, the Indian prototype can do most of the work that the Chinese version can, said Mr. Rajasekhar. “There are some parts that I am still trying to find locally, but I have retained the Chinese software code for now,” he said.

The Indian machine will cost around ₹16 lakh initially, but costs may come down as more people adopt it, said the innovator.

Mr. Rajasekhar has been working on the machine along with his nephew C. Karthikeyan. The unit functions from his residence in Karumandapam.

The synthetic gems industry, which once employed at least three lakh people in Tiruchi — manufacturers, traders and rural workers — at its peak in the mid-1990s, now has less than 500 players.

The All India Synthetic Gems Manufacturers and Dealers Association has pinned its hopes on Mr. Rajasekhar’s Indian prototype to revive the trade, especially as the pandemic and widespread power shortage has slowed down China’s production rate of the lab-grown raw material.

“We will require support from local importers to facilitate greater transparency in procuring raw material from China. We are also in talks with the Indo-Swiss Synthetic Gem Manufacturing Company Limited in Mettupalayam to revive production for our members. The government should help us to bridge the gap between producers and consumers with incentive-based initiatives,” said M.R. Venugopal, president of the association.

He also added that the body had requested Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) to provide formal training to Mr. Rajasekhar in order to improve production.

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Printable version | Aug 8, 2022 5:02:50 am | https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Tiruchirapalli/entrepreneur-builds-replica-of-chinese-synthetic-gem-cutting-machine/article65211174.ece