“Diamond businessmen from many countries, including Belgium, Israel and even India, are setting up diamond cutting & polishing units in China."
SURAT: The country’s trade nemesis, China, may soon challenge India’s dominance in the diamond processing industry. With cheap labour, cost-effective processes and better infrastructure at their disposal, China’s diamond merchants are developing processing units there.
“Diamond businessmen from many countries, including Belgium, Israel and even India, are setting up diamond cutting & polishing units in China. China is emerging as an important player in the sector, and could challenge the Indian industry in the coming years,” Pravin Nanavati, former president of The Surat Diamond Association told DNA Money.
“Better infrastructure and lenient labour & tax laws are China’s strong points. Like India, the labour is cheap in China, and hence operations are cost-effective. China is also way ahead of India as far as technology is concerned.
While semi-automatic machines are still being used in India, modern & automatic machines are used for diamond cutting & polishing in China,” said Jeevraj Surani, a Surat-based diamond exporter who runs a diamond
manufacturing unit inChina.
“Chinese diamond manufacturers are in a position to process diamonds at competitive prices and, hence, it would not be an exaggeration to say that China poses a serious challenge to India’s domination in diamond cutting & polishing,” he added.
Industry sources said the number of diamond workers in China has increased from around 35,000 three years back to more than 1.50 lakh now. In India, an estimated 10 lakh people are connected with diamond manufacturing.
“Underestimating China, which has emerged as one of the largest economies in the world, could be a big mistake on the part of the Indian diamond industry,” Nanavati warned.
Expressing similar views, Chandrakant Sanghvi, regional convenor of Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council, said: “Currently, there is a huge difference in the Indian and Chinese diamond industries. China is way behind India, and there is little possibility of it catching up with us, at-least in the near future.”
“However, the industry should remain vigilant and ensure that China does not eat into its share of the diamond sector,” he added.
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