Diamond Downturn: 100,000 Jobs Lost at Manufacturing Hub

(IDEX Online) - Hundreds of diamond-trading offices have closed in Bhavnagar, a city in Gujarat, western India, as a prolonged industry downturn forces workers to abandon the trade.

As many as 100,000 people have lost their livelihoods or moved into other occupations, according to local industry representatives.

The closures underline the growing pressure on Gujarat, the Indian state that dominates the country's diamond-cutting and polishing business.

Ghanshyam Gorsiya, president of the Bhavnagar District Diamond Association, said as many as 800 of the estimated 1,500 to 2,000 diamond offices at the Madhav Darshan commercial building in Bhavnagar had shut.

The downturn in Bhavnagar - a city far smaller than Surat, but significant nonetheless - has been building for three to four years, with traders citing disruption to Russian rough-diamond supplies following the invasion of Ukraine and Western sanctions, as well as weak consumer demand, falling prices and uncertainty over US tariffs.

The impact is particularly severe for smaller businesses that depend on orders and subcontracted work from larger manufacturers. Surat, which accounts for the bulk of India's diamond processing, has also experienced factory closures and reduced activity.

But smaller centers such as Bhavnagar and nearby Amreli have fewer resources to withstand a prolonged fall in orders.

Local reports say former cutters and factory managers are moving into farming, casual labor and small businesses. One former industry manager has reportedly taken up selling pav bhaji, a popular Indian street-food dish.