Gujarat Congress has alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was promoting Chinese diamonds at the cost of the diamond processing industry in India without a concrete plan. He said at least 102 workers employed in various diamond processing units across Gujarat had died because of loss of jobs.
Gujarat Congress President Shaktisinh Gohil said at least 50,000 people in Gujarat have been rendered unemployed in the diamond sector just because of PM Modi’s inability of disinclination to ease sanctions on Russian-origin rough diamonds.
Gohil criticised the Modi Government for failing to make efforts to ease the strict sanctions on Russian-origin rough diamonds. According to him, the sanctions have severely impacted the diamond industry in Surat. It is said that every diamond in the world passes through Surat in Gujarat which houses several MSMEs and is the world’s biggget diamond processing hub.
Congress leader Gohil told Vibes of India that thousands of diamond workers have lost their jobs and more than 102 have died by suicide, and yet neither Prime Minister Narendra Modi nor the External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar have raised this issue before the G7 summit to relax the stringent sanctions regarding Russian-origin diamonds.
Extensive job losses, salary reductions, and growing uncertainty about employment have stripped away the shine of Surat’s famed diamond industry. Shaktisinh Gohil questioned Prime Minister Modi’s love for Chinese diamonds. Why are you promoting China when hundreds of our diamond workers are dying in our home state of Gujarat?
“G7 countries have banned Russian diamonds, which are imported in India for cutting and polishing and exported in the western markets, China, UAE, and Hong Kong. Why did the PM not utter a word during his recent visit to the USA about unreasonable sanctions imposed by G7 countries on Russian diamonds that have adversely impacted Surat’s diamond industry?” Gohil told Vibes of India.
One of the main sources of raw diamonds is Russia. Due to the conflict in Ukraine, Western sanctions have forced Russia to export slightly more than 30 per cent of India’s rough diamonds. The imported stones are brought to Surat in order to be polished and cut.
The supply chain for both cut and polished diamonds and raw stones has been significantly impacted by the Israel-Gaza and Ukraine-Russia wars, according to industry observers.
He further alleged that PM Modi has advertised China’s lab-grown or synthetic diamonds during his recent visit to the United States. “Our Prime Minister has gifted 7.5 carats of lab-grown diamond to First Lady Jill Biden. Why did he do that? For marketing this category of diamond? Why ignore our indigenous and original diamonds?” he said.
An official estimate of India’s diamond exports shows that the sector is severely affected; cut and polished stone exports fell from $23 billion in 2022 to $16 billion in 2023, and another decline to $12 billion is predicted in 2024. In 2023, there was a decrease in worldwide demand and an excess supply of polished diamonds, which resulted in a price drop between 5% and 27%.
“The state as well as central government should start a dialogue with the affected people. The government must give justified compensation to victims,” he remarked while talking to Vibes of India.
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