ROUGH PATCHES ON THE ROCKY ROAD TO SURAT - Scouring the city facing scarcity of rough diamonds from Russian mines

U.S. sanctions have affected Surat’s diamond traders forcing factories to cut work timings or even shut shop. Sustaining the diamond trade would need innovation at the next level and leading the business would need acumen beyond perception. Read on to know how Surat has taken this crisis head-on and is actively planning a sustainable future for the diamond trade.

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India’s diamond business is more than 4 centuries old and Surat became a diamond processing hub as early as the 17th Century. Better known as the world’s spot of choice for cutting and polishing diamonds and home to more than 6000 diamond processing units engaging almost in 1 million trained karigars, Surat is the second top export district in the country this year, with export of 5 commodities amounting to INR7,000 crore. It is popularly believed that it was a diamond trader who brought a ship full of African diamond cutters and polishers from South African mines into Surat which laid the foundation of the diamond trade in India’s Surat harbour over Tapi river. It was in the 1960’s when the Patels from the far end of Gujarat, Saurashtra caught up with trading in rough diamonds and the Jain community from the North of the state too made a mark till the 1991 economic reforms took place. Government data of 2005 reports that 92% of the worlds diamonds that were cut and polished at Surat that year, earned India $15 Billion in exports. India currently imports approximately $11 billion worth of rough diamonds annually, 80% of which come from diamond mining companies, out of which about 40% is acquired from Russian miner, ALROSA.