Diamond Giant Kiran Gems Moves to New Surat Bourse
November 08, 23
(IDEX Online) - Kiran Gems is relocating its headquarters, together with 1,200 employees, from Mumbai to the new Surat Diamond Bourse (SDB).
The move will come as welcome news for SDB, officially the largest office building in the world with over 7.1m square feet of floor space. But it will be a disappointment for Mumbai's Bharat Diamond Bourse (BDB).
Kiran Gems, described as the world's largest rough diamond manufacturer, has built a 40,000sq yd apartment complex for its workers and their families, a 10-minute drive from SDB.
The privately-owned company employs 48,000 diamond workers across its eight factories, all in Surat, and buys over 5.7m carats a year.
Kiran Gems' offices at BDB will close after Diwali and will open at SDB on 21 November. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi is due to inaugurate the new bourse on 17 December.
SDB, built at a cost of $388m with nine 15-floor interconnected towers, will challenge the dominance of BDB, currently the world's largest diamond bourse and home to around 2,500 traders.
SDB faced criticism in July for offering incentives to new members if they closed their offices at BDB.
Surat, a five-hour drive away, has long been the capital of diamond manufacturing, handling over 90 per cent of all the world's gems, but the trade has been centered in Mumbai.
Pic of the new Surat bourse, courtesy SDB.