PM inaugurates diamond bourse, new airport terminal in Surat

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Narendra Modi on Sunday inaugurated the Surat Diamond Bourse, which will have facilities like international banking, safe vaults, jewellery mall and create about 150,000 new jobs, during his visit to Gujarat. He also inaugurated the new terminal building of Surat Airport, which can handle 1,200 domestic passengers and 600 international passengers. Constructed in 6.7 million square feet, the Surat Diamond Bourse will be the largest office space in the world.

“Surat Diamond Bourse will now come to the fore along with India’s pride during discussions about diamond bourses in the world," Modi said while inaugurating the exchange. “Surat Diamond Bourse showcases the abilities of Indian designs, designers, materials and concepts. This building is a symbol of New India’s capabilities and resolutions," he added.

A global centre for trading rough and polished diamonds and jewellery, Surat Diamond Bourse will also house a state-of-the-art Customs Clearance House for import and export. Modi said the government is working on measures like declaring the gem and jewellery sector as a focus area for export promotion, encouraging patented design, diversifying export products, collaborating for better technology, and promoting lab-grown or green diamonds. The government is working on providing special provisions for green diamonds in the budget, he said.

The sector is bound to benefit from the positive global outlook towards India and the growing stature of the ‘Make in India’ brand, Modi added. Interestingly, Mumbai has been a major trading centre for Indian diamond exporters, and Surat processes a large chunk of the world’s rough diamonds, which are cut and polished in the city before being exported. The inauguration of the Surat