Gujarat Congress chief raises concerns over job losses, suicides in Surat’s diamond industry

Gujarat diamond industry in crisis due to job losses, suicides, and sanctions on Russian-origin diamonds, impacting workers and economy.

Congress has criticised the Union government for not taking efforts to get the stringent sanctions against Russian-origin diamonds relaxed, which they claim has badly affected the Surat diamond industry in Gujarat.

“...Thousands of diamond workers have lost their jobs and dozens of them have died by suicide and yet neither Prime Minister Narendra Modi nor the External Affairs Minister have raised this issue before the G7 summit to relax the stringent sanctions regarding Russian-origin diamonds,” Gujarat Congress chief and Rajya Sabha MP Shaktisinh Gohil said.

Mass-scale job losses, pay reduction, and uncertainty about work have taken the sheen away from Surat’s famed diamond industry have been taken the sheen away from Surat’s famed diamond industry.

.“Gujarat’s diamond industry is passing through an unprecedented crisis due to the ban on Russian-origin diamonds that are cut and polished in Surat and exported by G7 countries. Why EAM S Jaishankar, who is a Rajya Sabha member from Gujarat, has not raised and protested this G7 countries’ decision?,” asked Mr. Gohil.

Russia is one of the largest suppliers of rough diamonds to Surat. India imports a little over 30% of its rough diamonds from Russian mines, now under Western sanctions due to the Ukraine war. The imported stones are brought to Surat for cutting and polishing. Then they are exported mostly to Western markets, China, and Hong Kong as finished products. According to experts tracking the sector, the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Gaza wars have severely hit the supply chain of raw stones and cut and polished diamonds.

More than 50,000 workers have lost their jobs in the past eight to nine months, while more than 70 people have died by suicide in the past year in Surat, unable to cope with job loss and family responsibilities. The sector has lost its sparkle amidst global geopolitical factors such as the Russia-Ukraine war and escalating tensions in West Asia, according to a recent The Hindu report.

As the crisis unfolds, many workers have turned to other jobs like selling snacks on streets, driving cabs, or working odd jobs in the markets, while others have returned to agriculture at their native homes in Saurashtra.