Winning Bizness Desk

Mumbai. It's been more than a year since the war began in Eastern Europe which has caused destruction on a large scale. Due to this, thousands of common citizens including soldiers have been killed and lakhs of people have been rendered homeless. The effect of the war is being seen thousands of kilometers away from Eastern Europe. The whole world is paying the brunt of the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine in the form of record inflation. Be it the neighboring country Pakistan or a developed country like Britain, the scarcity of many essential food items in the market and the skyrocketing prices are making life difficult for a large population all over the world. But some selected oil and gas companies of the world are earning handsomely after the start of the war. These companies are making huge profits. Even the arms manufacturing companies could not earn such income in the first and second world wars. In these too, especially the profits of the oil companies of America are at a historical level.

Large-scale war making all hell

Due to restrictions, diamond workers in Surat have to suffer less loss of rough diamonds from Russia. The crisis has worsened due to a drop in demand amid a global economic recession and a large-scale war. Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) chairman Vipul Shah said that tracing technology can be used to reduce the movement of Russian diamonds in global markets. He said that the diamond industry has been facing a crisis since the US imposed sanctions on Russia-based diamond miner Alrosa last April following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The move was a big blow to Surat's diamond factories.

20 lakh workers engaged in industry

It seems that many diamond factories are now paying workers on an hourly basis. Small factories have also started sending their workers on summer vacation as they are finding it difficult to cope with the current situation. More than 20 lakh workers are involved in the diamond industry. These are the workers who do not come under the ambit of labor laws and are deprived of many benefits like insurance, provident fund.

Cut production by 60 percent

An owner of a small diamond factory in Surat said, "Due to the recession, we have reduced the production and working hours of our employees. In the industry, only big companies used to give summer vacations, but this time some small and medium companies have also announced vacations to cope with the situation. We have cut production by 60 percent because there is no demand for polished diamonds and we have no money to invest in the business.