It's been nearly three months since the Russia-Ukraine war started which has led to unprecedented losses to mankind. Even economies around the world have been hit hard in more ways than one.?
And India seems to be no exception. Besides battling the stock market volatility, oil prices, food crisis, inflation etc, another big issue has cropped up in the nation.
About 250,000 workers employed at Surat's diamond polishing and cutting units are on the brink of losing their jobs amid the Ukraine war.?
These 250,000 workers have been asked to go on leave for 15 days from May 16th 2022, as the supplies of rough stones from the biggest diamond miner, Alrosa, which is partially owned by the Russian government, have been frozen amid the Russia Ukraine conflict, as per ET report.
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The US Treasury had slapped sanctions on Alrosa on April 8th 2022, potentially cutting off about 30% of the world's supply of rough diamonds. These sanctions barred India's diamond exporters from importing rough diamonds from Alrosa. Exporters also cannot take any risk as the US is the major buyer of Indian cut and polished diamonds, the report stated.
Ramesh Zilariya, President of Diamond Workers Union, Gujarat told ET "The units have been reducing working hours from 12 to 8 and had given two days off to workers every week. They thought that the supply side will improve if the government intervenes. But with the US expanding sanctions, they have now asked the workers to go on leave for 15 days, beginning May 16th¡±.?
¡°During this period, the workers will not get any wages. We fear that subsequently, this will result in job losses."
This has put a huge question mark on lakhs of workers¡¯ future, as the diamond units in Surat employ around a million people.
The fresh crisis comes after the diamond industry recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic induced slowdown. Gems and jewellery exports had rebounded in 2021-22 to touch $39.15 billion, up nearly 55% year-on-year.
More than 30% of rough diamonds imported from Alrosa directly come to Surat for cutting and polishing. Also, Alrosa exports rough diamonds to other countries worldwide which finally come to Surat for polishing through different routes, as per ET report.
"Due to supply constraint many factory owners have reduced their production," said Dinesh Navadiya, region chairman, GJEPC, Gujarat.
The Diamond Workers Union Gujarat's Surat unit had on May 4th 2022 and sent a memorandum to Gujarat chief minister Bhupendra Patel seeking financial aid for the diamond workers. The memorandum said there were more than two million workers employed in the diamond factories in Surat, Navsari, Ahmedabad, Bhavnagar, Botad and Bhavnagar, as per ET report.
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