With the Diamond City counting dates ahead of the world’s largest office complex’s inauguration, the Surat Diamond Bourse (SDB), a recent announcement by the Maharashtra government of setting up a diamond cluster in Navi Mumbai has heated up discussion on the rising competition in the diamond industry, as per a Times of India report.
Recently Uday Samant, Maharashtra’s minister for industries announced that the country’s largest Diamond Cluster is being developed in Navi Mumbai. The announcement for a Diamond Cluster will add fuel to the already stiff competition.
Industry leaders, however, have mixed reactions. “The government can announce but it is difficult to meet the scale of the ecosystem for the diamond industry that has developed in Surat. We are not against any new area being developed and it is good for industry but it will be equally challenging to attract businesses,” said Vallabh Lakhani, chairman, SDB.
The SDB, which will be formally inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 17, is set to become the largest office building in the world with 7.1 million square feet of space. This exodus of businesses from Mumbai to Gujarat has sparked a political debate in Maharashtra.
Aruna Gaitonde, Editor in Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough & Polished
