Kiran Gems, one of the World's Largest Manufacturers of Natural Polished Diamonds, has announced a 10-day vacation for its employees. At least 50,000 employees working at the diamond company in Surat, Gujarat, will be on a holiday from August 17 to 27, The Indian Express reported.
The decision came in the wake of no demand for polished diamonds in the global market.
Speaking to The Indian Express, the chairman of Kiran Gems Vallabhbhai Lakhani said that the diamond industry was going through a bad patch. "We have declared a 10-day holiday so that the production of diamonds can be controlled. Such a decision was taken for the first time in the company's history," he said.
"The price of polished diamonds has gone down globally and it has become difficult for diamond manufacturers to run their business," the CEO added. He remained positive that once the supply was curbed, the demand for diamonds would likely grow.
Vallabhbhai Lakhani confirmed that his company would compensate the diamond workers during their over-a-week-long sabbatical. “Over 50,000 diamond polishers work in my firm, of which 40,000 cut and polish natural diamonds while 10,000 work in the lab-grown diamond unit. We are also looking to compensate diamond polishers for the vacation days.” In his opinion, if other diamond companies collectively chose to control their diamond production, it would benefit the entire industry.
According to a report in The Times Of India, following Kiran Gems' vacation announcement, rumours started that another prominent diamond firm — The Surat Diamond Association (SDA — was also permitting a 10-day leave to its employees. Rubbishing the speculations, SDA president Jagdish Khunt said, “We have not announced any vacation dates. Some mischievous elements did this and it was necessary to issue a clarification.”