Diamond industry sees 15% job losses

India’s diamond and polishing hub in Gujarat, which spreads across Surat and smaller centres like Amreli and Bhavnagar, is witnessing a slowdown in demand from China and West Asia. This has led to job losses of around 10-15% for the industry and prices of polished diamonds have declined by 6-10% in the past four months.
 The industry is not optimistic of a quick recovery in demand in these regions, which is led by slowdown in demand and liquidity crisis. Demand in China has dropped by 15-20%. Exports of cut and polished diamonds dropped by 15.11% during April-July, 2019. Around 8 lakh people are engaged in the cutting and polishing of diamonds in Gujarat.