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Gujarat’s diamond cutting and polishing units will remain shut for 20 to 25 days, for routine annual vacations, the president of the Surat Diamond Association said.
“From tommorrow, over 4,000 diamond units will begin to close down for routine annual vacations. It will last for around 25 days. They are expected to re-open from December 1,” Surat Diamond Association’s president Dinesh Navadiya said.
According to an RBI report, the diamond industry in Gujarat accounts for 72 per cent of the world’s processed diamonds and 80 per cent of India’s diamond exports.
As per Gujarat government’s data, there are 6,547 diamond processing units in the state, which employs about seven lakh people. Of this, around 38 per cent of units and 57 per cent of the work force is in Surat, which is Asia’s largest diamond cutting and polishing hub, said to cut and polish nine out of 11 diamonds in the world.
Although, the US and Europe account for a sizeable quantity of diamond exports, Surat’s dependence on these two major markets has come down after export diversification to new markets like Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore and Japan.
“Hurricane Sandy in the US might impact trade mildly during this festival season, but after infrastructure reforms there, we expect the market to rebound,” Navadia said.
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