India's diamond processing hub of Surat employs at least a million workers to cut, polish and set the gems.
“Most ask for help to pay their rents or repay loans, or help them pay for their children’s education,” DWU president Ramesh Zilariya told The Straits Times. The conflict in Gaza implicating Israel has not helped either, as the country – a major diamond trading hub – is both an importer of polished diamonds from India and a supplier of rough cut diamonds.
An estimated 50,000 of the two million diamond industry workers in Gujarat are currently unemployed, with nearly 30,000 rendered jobless in the diamond hub of Surat alone. The situation for those who remain employed is also worrisome. “It looks like I will have to leave Surat and return to my village... If I can’t find a job, my debts will keep piling up here,” said Mr Chotliya, who has been looking for a job in the diamond industry but has yet to find one.