Surat Diamond Market - Why you should visit?

Why You Should Visit? Insights for Small Businesses

Surat is the second largest city in Gujarat. It is one of the fastest-growing cities on this planet. The credit to this fast-paced growth goes to the diamond market in Surat. The diamond cutting and polishing industry in Surat is one of the biggest diamond industries in the world. Around 90% of the world's diamonds are cut, shaped, and polished in Surat.

The diamond industry is one of the most expensive industries in the world. Diamonds are the hardest material on earth and they are used in making jewellery as well as many industrial units. The Surat diamond industry earns more than $18 billion in just exports every year. The sector also employs lakhs of people involved in the complex procedures of measuring, cutting, polishing, and quality control of diamonds. Thus, the diamond market is undoubtedly one of India's most industrialised, prosperous, and profit-making sectors.

History

One is curious to learn the history behind this famous market in Surat, looking at its success. While India is known for the world-famous Kohinoor diamond, India does not have many diamond reserves. The largest diamond reserves of the world are located in Russia, Botswana, and Africa.

Until the early 20th century, the diamond business was under the monopoly of a giant company called DeBeers. This monopoly was then broken, which allowed for the entry of other market players like those in Surat. It all started in 1901 where a local businessman from Surat brought diamonds with him from Africa. Since the 1960s, Surat has been regularly importing diamonds from all over the globe. With the liberalisation policy adopted in 1990, the diamond industry of Surat grew even more.

Converting a diamond into jewellery involves many steps such as mining, cutting, trading, designing, manufacturing, and sales. In Surat, the cutting industry is the most popular. A diamond's worth depends on the Four Cs: Cut, Colour, Clarity, and Carat. All of these four steps are carried out in Surat.

Why should you visit?

Visiting Surat's diamond market is an exciting and interesting experience. Even if you are not looking to buy any diamonds, visiting this market would surely add a sparkle to your life experiences. Here are some of the unique features of the best market in Surat, which make it a must-visit destination:

1. State of the art infrastructure: Contrary to what is shown in movies and documentaries, diamonds are no more made in dark, clumsy, and dirty factories. Surat has successfully changed this, and all manufacturing units in Surat have a stunning, well-equipped, and grand infrastructure, just like corporate buildings found in metro cities. You can call any of the manufacturing units and request for a tour to visit them.

2. Well-managed processes: Surat imports diamonds from various parts of the world, and then it goes through the process of polishing and cutting. Even though it may sound simple, as many as 60-70 steps are involved in converting a raw diamond into a sparkling finished one. You can look at natural diamonds and examine how measuring, laser cutting, manual cutting, polishing, quality checking is done at these manufacturing units. It will truly help you appreciate the preciousness of diamonds.

3. Dust to diamonds: One of the exciting aspects of Suat is that even mud and dust are cleaned multiple times to find small discarded pieces of diamonds in it. Several vendors and cleaners do this every day in small lanes of Surat and successfully find small discarded diamonds, which are then sold.

4. Surat Diamond Bourse: For all these years, Surat was only involved in the manufacturing process of diamonds, and the sale and trade were completed outside Surat in cities like Mumbai. However, now Surat has its own trading center. It is expected to open soon. It is one of the largest trade centers in the world and is expected to double the diamond trade of India. The infrastructure and aesthetics make it a must-visit spot.

5. Other attractions in Surat: Apart from the diamond market, the best wholesale markets in Surat are for clothes, sarees, accessories, etc. Surat has the cheapest cloth market in India and the best wholesale shops for textiles and sarees. Apart from that, you surely should not miss out on the food of Surat and enjoy some fantastic Gujurati delicacies.

Insights for small businesses

Whether or not you are looking to enter the diamond business, the Surat diamond market teaches you many important lessons on running a business. Some of the key takeaways are:

1. Attention to detail: No matter what product or service you offer, the diamond market will teach you the importance of attention to detail and how a carefully mapped process can ensure the perfection of your products. As we saw above, Surat's diamond market is a success solely because of the quality of services offered by them and how every diamond goes through so many procedures to achieve its final look. Thus, perfection and attention to detail are essential to ensure customer satisfaction and the success of any business.

2. Skills over certificates: Another interesting aspect of the best market in Surat is that so many managers, workers, and even owners of manufacturing units are not very well educated. Some have not even completed their schooling. But today, they have managed to run businesses worth crores of rupees only because of the unique skills they possess. Thus, always keep investing in building your skills to grow your business. New and advanced skills will add value to your company and generate profit. No amount of certificates and qualifications can do that.

3. Network building: Building a trustworthy and valuable network is very important for any business today. The diamond market of Surat has built global networks with mining companies, traders, and business owners to continually sustain their business even today. Even with the pandemic hitting India in 2020, the diamond market's sales were not affected. They were able to retain all their customers despite such difficulties.

4. Location independence: Worlds' largest diamond reserves are not found in India. Yet Surat has managed to become the center of cutting and polishing of diamonds. This shows that that location and availability of resources are not a restriction to building a business. This has become easier with technology and the internet today.

However, if you are looking to start a diamond business in Surat, the opportunities are endless. You can look at various options in jewelry designing, trade, industrial use of diamonds, etc.

Conclusion

Surat's diamond market is a unique travel experience and provides great learnings for all business owners. It is fascinating to look at the diamond industry and learn about the various intricacies involved in diamond cutting. Surat is also one of the best places to visit other markets like the best whole Kurti markets, best wholesale saree markets, etc. can also be found in Surat coupled with great food. Thus, a visit to Surat is a must for all business owners.

Also Read:

1) Featured Market-12: Surat - Textile Market
2) Featured Market-14: Ahmedabad - Cotton Market
3) Tibet Walk, Ooty – Why you should visit? Insights for small businesses
4) OkCredit: All you need to know about OkCredit & how it works.

FAQs

Q. From where does Surat's diamond market get its raw diamonds from?

Ans. Raw diamonds are mined in various parts of the world, including Africa, Russia, and even the oceans. Natural diamonds from all over the world are imported to Surat.

Q. What is Surat Diamond Bourse?

Ans. It is a non-profit company in Surat that will carry out all trade-related activities concerning diamonds in Surat. Earlier the same used to happen via Mumbai, but it is predicted to shift to Surat in the coming year.

Q. How to reach the diamond market?

Ans. There are various manufacturing units in Surat; you can pick any and call them to request a visit.

Q. How can I start my own diamond business?

Ans. Starting a diamond business would require a good amount of capital investment. You can use Okcredit to track and manage your expenses and assets in your industry.