This content was first published on IGR – Italian Gemological Review no. 18 in 2024. The information provided here is therefore current as of the original publication date.
The opening of the Surat Diamond Bourse (SDB) was nothing short of spectacular. It is arguably the world’s largest complex dedicated to the gemstone industry and houses both large and small traders and polishers. Dwarfing the size of the Israel Diamond Exchange, the SDB comprises nine 15-storey towers housing some 4,700 offices, a jewellery mall for retail sales, a customs house, international banking facilities and vaults. The bourse covers an impressive 80,000 square metres.
Over time, Surat as a manufacturing hub and Mumbai as a distribution centre have struck a balance. But the question arising with this new Bourse is whether there is room for two hubs just over 200 km apart with overlapping facilities. Signs that the opening of the SDB would mark a significant step forward in the leadership of India’s diamond industry, but also a moment of conflict with Mumbai’s Bharat Bourse, began to emerge last June. The SDB was accused by its Mumbai counterparts of aggressive marketing, offering privileges to companies willing to close their old offices in the metropolis and move to Surat. «One wonders why they have come out with such offers. People from Surat are not moving in. Why are you sending such offers to business houses in Mumbai? We don’t tell them to close the factory and come here», Mehul Shah, vice-president of the Bharat Diamond Bourse, told the Times of India.
On 24 January 2024, Kiran Gems, the first major player to enthusiastically relocate its offices just two months earlier and even build 1,200 apartments for its employees, reversed its decision and returned to Mumbai barely a month after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s grand inauguration. The company has not made any official statement, but according to sources, the decision was motivated by the losses incurred due to relocation and the reluctance of employees to change their residence or commute.
The factor that could disrupt the complementarity of the two hubs of the Indian diamond industry is the transport system. Surat is one of the stations on the 650 km high-speed rail corridor linking Pune to Ahmedabad via Mumbai — an ambitious US$15 billion investment that will use Japan’s Shinkansen technology. Once operational in 2026 (although delays are expected until 2030), the 263 km journey between Mumbai and Surat will take just over an hour by train. Today the journey requires 3–5 hours by car or train and up to 7 hours by bus. Rather than fostering a collaborative network, such conditions, which inhibit synergy, are more likely to result in one unit dominating the other.
Gem News published on IGR – Italian Gemological Review #18, Spring 2024
