According to Surat’s diamond exporters, if the payment issue was not sorted out immediately for rough diamonds sourced from Russia’s partially state-owned mining company Alrosa, there would be fewer supplies
The war in Ukraine could see high number of job losses in Surat, the capital of India’s diamond-cutting and polishing. The diamond industry in Surat employs nearly 800,000 people and is said to have processed 14 out every 15 diamonds available in the world.
Apparently, the sanctions imposed on Russia could affect sourcing of rough diamonds for processing. The European Union, US, UK and their allies have excluded Russia from the Swift international payment system. According to Surat’s diamond exporters, if the payment issue was not sorted out immediately for rough diamonds sourced from Russia’s partially state-owned mining company Alrosa, there would be fewer supplies.
“India’s diamond industry is 100% import-dependent, and any shortage in rough diamond would have a severe impact on manufacturing activity and employment in the sector,”
— Colin Shah, Chairman of the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council, told ET
This would force the cut and polishing units in Surat to scale down production and manpower. Alrosa, however, has assured supplies and informed the industry that its settlements with foreign partners using currencies like the dollar and euro had not been affected. The units in Surat are not certain how long the supplies would continue.
“India’s diamond industry is 100% import-dependent, and any shortage in rough diamond would have a severe impact on manufacturing activity and employment in the sector,” Colin Shah, Chairman of the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council, told ET. He mentioned that the shortage would have a huge impact on the gem and jewellery exports from the country as cut and polished diamonds constituted a significant portion of these exports.
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