While Surat remains the world's diamond center, diamond production activities largely depend on migrants who would prefer to stay in their homeland. As a result, there is a tendency to shift the diamond cutting segment from Surat to the enterprises located in the Indian region of Saurashtra, in particular to cities such as Rajkot, Amreli, Bhavnagar and Junagadh, Rapaport.
The president of the Surat Diamond Association (SDA), Dinesh Navadia, told Rapaport News: "Until 1985, the diamond industry was concentrated in rural areas and on the outskirts of Surat. It was thanks to them that Surat became the capital of the diamond industry. After 1985, the production of diamonds began to open in the city itself. At first the cost of living in Surat was acceptable, but gradually the prices for real estate and food products increased. Workers who came to Surat from various areas can not afford such expenses. Thanks to a system of unified wage standards, workers in any city outside Surat can receive the same wages as in Surat, so the number of diamond cutting enterprises in cities such as Rajkot,
Navadia considers this trend positive for the industry, noting that it does not infringe on the importance of Surat, the undisputed diamond capital. In his opinion, in the surrounding cities only faceting and polishing will be carried out, while the rest of the work - sorting and cleaning of diamonds, grading and evaluation of cuts and others - will be carried out in Surat.