A talk was organized by Rapaport to announce the publication of a new RapNet price list
on 6 November at Taj Palace & Hotels, Mumbai. Martin Rapaports spoke about diamond pricing among other issues. The proceedings were initiated by Vasant Mehta, Chairman Gem and Jewelry Export Promotion Council (GJEPC). 
Speaking on behalf of the industry Mehta began by posing the two most pertinent questions faced by the diamond community currently; the failure of financial institutions and its subsequent effect on the global economy and the fall in prices in the latest Rapaport price list.
The Rapaport price list released last week incorporated a sharp fall in prices (up to 5 percent) which was termed inconsistent according to many industry players. Ashish K Mehta of M/s Kantilal Chotalal presented the contention of most traders, wholesalers and manufacturers present. He said that when the prices were rising between January 2007 - October 2008 most of the reflection of those prices was apparent in the price list in a restrained level at a little later date.
However, when the prices fell they were reflected in the new price list quite quickly. This gave stockists no time to absorb the changes. These are all people who hold huge inventories and such sudden changes affect them, hurting business and sentiments alike.
Martin Rapaport began his presentation by assuring the audience that he was very sensitive to the needs and fears of the industry which he has been part of for the past thirty years. He said that the business practices followed in the past are soon going to be rendered obsolete by the demands of the current economic scenario and urged the industry to be flexible and therefore resilient. His viewpoint was that it made sense to expect lower diamond prices and to be open to the changes this heralded.
Rapaport said five to ten percent fluctuations should be taken in stride. Arun Mehta, chairman and director, B. Arunkumar countered this by saying that of an inventory worth $25bn, five percent was almost $1.30 bn, and this was not a sum to be taken lightly. He requested Rapaport to make an announcement to suspend the current pricelist and issue a revised edition considering the concerns voiced by the industry — a request that was turned down amidst a veritable uproar by the packed audience. However, in his closing statement Rapaport did concede that he would take constructive steps next time to resolve the issue.