Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 17 inaugurated Surat Diamond Bourse (SDB), the world’s largest and modern centre for international diamond and jewellery business, at a time when the diamond industry is passing through its worst crisis due to global economic slowdown and G7 countries’ tough stand on Russian diamonds.
The SDB building is the world’s largest office complex with over 67 lakh square feet of floor area spread in nine 15-storey interconnected towers with offices ranging from 300 sq ft to 7,5000 sq ft is aimed at shifting the diamond trading business from Mumbai to Surat, which is the hub of diamond cutting and polishing with thousands of factories across the city.
While opening the new project, Mr. Modi called the building as another diamond in the city. “One more diamond has been added to Surat’s magnificence. The tall buildings around the world have lost their sheen in front of such a huge diamond that is now being opened today.”
“Surat diamond industry provides employment to around 8 lakh people, and with the coming up of new diamond bourse, 1.5 lakh more jobs will be added,” he said.
The Prime Minister congratulated the team for the project and called while describing the project as an “emblem of new India and its strength.”
At the SDB, besides offices of trading of cut and polished diamonds and agents dealing with import of rough stones from international markets, 27 retail jewellery outlets will also be opened to complete the value chain of diamond jewellery.
However, the inauguration of the greenfield project which was launched in 2015 came amidst severe challenges from global slowdown to geopolitical factors that have upended the diamond industry, which provides jobs to nearly one million people in the State.
Recently, G7 group of countries have announced direct import restrictions on Russian-origin diamonds from January and diamonds processed by third countries like India from March, which has raised major concerns for the Indian gems and jewellery trade and diamond processing industry in Surat.
The restrictions are however applicable to diamonds sized a carat or above in G7 countries, while diamonds sized half a carat or more will be banned in September 2024, and a new system to trace origin of the stones will be introduced.
In Surat, the Russian diamonds of less than 0.5 carats are cut and polished, which means the impact of the ban by G7 will not be that severe, according to factory owners.
However, in September, GJEPC (Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council) and other trade bodies had directed members to halt import of rough diamonds for two months from October 15, amid a steep rise in inventory of polished diamonds due to a sharp fall in exports in western countries and China.
“The situation is very bad for the workers or artisans in Surat. In last one year, 30 artisans have committed suicides due to financial difficulties,” Bhavesh Tank; Vice President of Surat Diamond Workers’ Union, claimed.
“Many small and medium sized factories have not even opened after the Diwali vacation or they have downsized their operations affecting workers,” he said, adding that the state or centre government must intervene to help the workers.
According to him; the diamond industry has been declining due to global economic slump. As per the latest data he has obtained from the Ministry of Commerce under the RTI, the value of exports of cut and polished mined diamonds fell to Rs 10,495 crore in October 2023 from Rs 15,594 crore in the same month the previous year, which is a drop of 32 %.
Even the industry insiders contend that there will be retrenchment of workers by around 30 % in coming months if the situation does not improve globally.
