Surat Diamond Bourse Makes Fresh Push to Lure Mumbai Traders

Surat : The Surat Diamond Bourse (SDB) is reigniting its efforts to attract Mumbai diamond traders to its newly constructed complex. The recently appointed committee, led by BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP Govind Dholakia and Arvind Shah, president of the Surat Diamond Bourse Service Co-operative Society, has devised a plan to persuade Mumbai-based diamantaires who have already purchased office space at the SDB to finally set up shop there.

Sources close to the development reveal that the SDB office-bearers will be holding a crucial meeting with these Mumbai traders on April 18th. The agenda: convincing them to expedite the opening of their offices in Surat. This meeting will be held at the BKC Hotel, strategically chosen for its proximity to the Bharat Diamond Bourse in Mumbai.

The new committee seems to be taking a targeted approach. Arvind Shah, himself a Jain from Dhanera in Gujarat, has been entrusted with the specific mission of attracting the Palanpuri Jain and Jain diamantaires from other villages in Gujarat doing business   from Mumbai to Surat. This strategic move leverages shared cultural background to build trust and encourage Jain traders to consider the SDB as their new business address.

The SDB leadership has set an ambitious target of operationalizing roughly 500 offices by June 2024. This renewed push comes after the resignation of Vallabh Lakhani, former chairman of the SDB, who was unable to achieve this goal during his tenure. Lakhani, a pioneer in this initiative, had himself shifted his entire diamond trading operations from the Bharat Diamond Bourse to Surat.  He even went a step further, constructing residential apartments near the SDB specifically for his Mumbai-based employees to facilitate their relocation.

The SDB, touted as the world’s largest diamond trading hub, boasts a massive floor space and state-of-the-art infrastructure. With Mumbai facing limitations on space and cost, Surat presents a compelling alternative. Whether the SDB’s latest efforts will succeed in drawing a critical mass of Mumbai traders remains to be seen, but the upcoming meeting on April 18th could mark a significant step forward in decided the fate of the world’s largest office building in Surat.