Jim Vimadalal, who previously worked at the Indian offices of Rio Tinto and Swarovski, was appointed as director of Alrosa’s representative office in Mumbai. The official opening of the Indian office is scheduled for March 2018. Currently, preparation works for the opening are underway there. The representative office won’t be engaged in trading activity, and will focus on cooperation with the local market.
Vimadalal’s key responsibilities will include cooperating with local industry organisations and advising current clients of the company on different technical issues. He will also negotiate with potential clients and monitor the condition of the Indian diamond market.
In addition, Vimadalal will deal with issues relating to research of the Indian consumption market as well as issues of preventing synthetics from entering the Indian natural diamonds market.
Vimadalal holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Bombay University and a postgraduate degree in business management from the Welingkar Institute of Management. Prior to joining Alrosa, Jim was with the sales and marketing team at Rio Tinto’s Indian representative office, and before that he headed Swarovski’s Western India business operations.
Earlier, Vimadalal managed retail and marketing operations for Zoya, a chain of high-end jewellery boutiques from the House of Tata, which owns market leader Tanishq.
Sergey Ivanov, chief executive officer of Alrosa, said: “I’d like to welcome Jim Vimadalal to the company, and I’m confident that his wide experience in sales and marketing will contribute to strengthening our partnership with India, as well as expanding the company’s presence in the country’s diamond market.
“India is one of our key partners; local companies successfully cooperate with Alrosa under both long-term contracts and spot transactions. The opening of the office in Mumbai will enable us to better cooperate with industry organisations and our current clients, as well as expand our client base in the country.”