Three Years on, Surat Diamond Bourse is Still 90% Empty

(IDEX Online) - The Surat Diamond Bourse (SDB) still has only 300 of its 4,700 offices in operation, almost three years after it first opened for business.

The nine-tower complex, which cost $388 million to build, was awarded a Guinness World Record in August 2023 as the world's largest office building.

It was conceived as a landmark project that would establish Surat as a global diamond-trading hub and challenge Mumbai's dominance.

Instead, it has become a huge white elephant, with almost 94% of its offices still unoccupied.

More than 4,000 offices have actually been sold, but largely as property investments rather than with the intention of moving businesses there.

SDB vice-chairman Laljibhai Patel said around 300 offices were operational, according to a report in The Indian Express on October 29. The Hindustan Times, citing an SDB official, put the number at just 250.

The bourse, with 7.1 million square feet of floor space, began commercial operations on November 21, 2023. Prime Minister Narendra Modi formally inaugurated it on December 17 that year.

Those who bought offices at SDB were betting that the development would become a major international trading center and that demand for office space would increase their value.

But the expected influx of diamond traders has not materialized. SDB vice-chairman Patel told The Indian Express that many owners were still paying maintenance charges on offices that remained unopened.

Many traders continue to operate from established business centers in Surat and Mumbai, where their customers, suppliers and commercial networks are already based.

The bourse's location at Khajod, around 14km from traditional trading districts including Mahidharpura and Varachha, has also been cited as a deterrent.

Kiran Gems, one of the first major companies to relocate from Mumbai in November 2023, moved much of its operation back to Mumbai after about six weeks, although it retained a presence at the bourse.

File pic shows Prime Minister Narendra Modi officially inaugurating the Surat Diamond Bourse in December 2023.