600 employees of Hari Krishna Exporters, run by Savji Dholakia, received cars made by Maruti Suzuki.
Savji Dholakia, a diamond merchant in Gujarat's Surat, handed over hundreds of cars as gifts to his employees yesterday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the gift-distribution.
Six hundred employees of Hari Krishna Exporters, a diamond trading company run by Savji Dholakia, received cars made by Maruti Suzuki, while around a thousand more staff were offered gifts of cash deposits and apartments in a huge outdoor ceremony.
PM Modi addressed the gift-giving via video link, as well as presenting some of the employees with car keys in New Delhi.
The gifts come in the run-up to Diwali that falls on November 7.
"The aim of this programme was to reward employees' loyalty and dedication towards the company," Savji Dholakia said in a Facebook post.
Savji Dholakia is famous across the country for giving lavish gifts to his employees at Diwali, including hundreds of apartments in the ceremony in 2016.
In 2016, Savji Dholakia gifted 400 flats and 1,260 cars as Diwali bonus to his employees. The year before, 491 cars and 200 flats reportedly handed out as gifts. He skipped that tradition in 2017.
The showroom value of the 600 cars would be over Rs 14 crore.