Last Updated :
17 October 2009 at 07:05 IST
Short Diwali holiday for Surat’s diamond units
SURAT (Commodity Online): Surat’s diamond sector is in a holiday mood now with diamond cutting and polishing units and the trading markets in Gujarat’s Surat downed shutters for the annual Diwali vacation on Thursday.
As against the traditional Diwali vacation of four to five weeks, diamond units will remain closed for only two weeks this year, in the wake of stable demand for polished diamonds from various markets ahead of the Christmas season.
There are approximately 4,000 diamond cutting & polishing units in Surat, which include large factories, medium and small units. Surat is the biggest diamond polishing city in the world. Almost 8 out of 10 diamonds in the world are polished in this western India city. These units employ an estimated 4 lakh workers, majority of who hail from Gujarat’s Saurashtra region. Most of these workers and their family members will travel to their native places to celebrate the festivals.
Another reason for shorter vacation is that production levels in diamond industry have been constrained in the recent months due to acute shortage of workers. The unit owners are hoping that they will be able to meet the orders by restarting early.
Leading manufacturers like Sanghavi Exports, Dharmanandan Diamonds, Kiran Exports, Laxmi Diamonds, Shree Ramkrishna Exports and others have announced a shorter vacation of two weeks. Majority of the medium and smaller diamond units will also reopen by the end of October or beginning of November.
Diamond manufacturers and exporters said that restarting early after Diwali will leave just enough time for them to cater to the pre-Christmas orders from retailers.
While most of the diamond cutting units will remain closed for two weeks, some units are planning to restart operations within a week or ten days. Some units have decided to reopen from October 22, and are offering attractive 15-20% bonus in the form of extra wages to lure polishers. Facing shortage of workers, many companies are also offering additional incentives to their workers for bringing other polishers.
Besides the cutting & polishing units, the diamond trading hubs of Mahidharpura Hira Bazaar and Varachha Mini Bazaar, will also observe a smaller vacation of two weeks this year.
MCX SUGARMKOL EX - KOLHAPUR 20 June 2012
contract was trading at
Rs 2910 . What's your view on it?
After reading this article, people also read:
