Four lakh workers face salary delays as lab diamond prices fall
workers engaged in cutting and polishing of lab-grown diamonds (LGD) in Surat are facing delays in getting their wages and uncertainties about their jobs, with a fall in the prices of these man-made gemstones affecting the revenue of the units employing them.
As LGD prices are falling and export demand is not picking up as expected, wages are getting delayed by 20 days every month, according to the workers' union.
Exports fell in value in 2023 but grew in volume, industry executives said. Last calendar year, exports of polished LGDs from India increased more than 50% in volume terms to 6.45 million carats, compared with 4.28 million carats in 2022. This year, volume growth too has slowed down. More than volume, value is falling which is a matter of concern. In 2024, value of lab-grown diamonds has fallen 45% compared with calendar 2023.
India can produce 16 million carats of LGDs annually.
«Workers in the LGD industry are facing trouble over wages. Wages are being delayed as the LGD manufacturers say prices of LGD are falling rapidly and exports are not picking up the way they had been projected,» Diamond Workers Union of Gujarat president Ramesh Zilariya said. «The workers fear that there might be job loss if prices do not pick up.»
Nearly 10 lakh workers are engaged in diamond trade in Surat, Zilariya said. «Of them 40% are engaged in LGD cutting and polishing. There are now 6,000 LGD reactors in Surat, churning out 16 million carats of LGDs.»
Cutting and polishing units in Surat process nine out of every 10
