Gujarat, September 27: Due to the current economic slowdown, Savjibhai Dholakia, best known for showering gifts of flats, cars, and jewellery on his employees during Diwali will not be giving any such gifts this time. The diamantaire feels that the slowdown is worse than 2008 and therefore the focus this time will be to ensure 'Rozi and Roti' and not on expensive gifts.

In 2012, Dholakia first gifted cars to the best-performing employees and in 2013, this number touched 72 and in 2014, he made headlines by gifting flats, cars, gold and diamond jewellery worth about ₹50 crores to 1,200 of his employees. Economic Slowdown 2019: 40,000 Diamond Workers in Gujarat Go Jobless, 250 Diamond Units Shut in 1 Year.

The diamond industry is going through a very tough time, and recently the Gujarat Diamond Worker's Union (GDWU) stated that more than 40,000 workers in the diamond cutting and polishing centres across Gujarat have been rendered jobless. GDWU even highlighted that 250 diamond units in Surat were shut.

There has been a 10-15 percent job loss in the diamond cutting and polishing industry in Gujarat over the first four months of this fiscal year. The job loss is reportedly due to a slowdown in demand for diamonds in China and West Asia. India is the world's largest cutting and polishing centre of rough diamonds, processing as many as 14 out of every 15 rough diamonds in the world.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 27, 2019 01:17 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).