Nearly 200 diamond cutting and polishing factories in Surat will suspend operations for 10 days from August 18 to bring down inventory levels as exports to key markets of China and US are not picking up. China has been buying only gold since Covid-19 while the US has slowed down purchase of natural diamonds.
Meanwhile, about 500 small cutting and polishing units spread over Gujarat have brought down shutters, resulting in 70,000-75,000 people losing their jobs, according to labour union sources. These units used to sell their products to big exporters in Surat and Mumbai, who would ship them to global markets.
