Editor’s Note
This article highlights the stark contrast between the grand ambitions symbolized by India’s new Surat Diamond Bourse and the severe economic headwinds facing the country’s diamond industry. As weak demand and rising trade barriers threaten a key export sector, the world’s largest office complex stands as a quiet monument to uncertain times.
The Surat Diamond Bourse, billed as the world’s largest office complex — surpassing even the Pentagon in size and symbolising India’s growing trade ambitions, stands eerily quiet, with only a few traders at work. The reason: business is sluggish and the outlook is grim.
Exports by India’s diamond industry have already hit a two-decade low on weak Chinese demand, and now higher tariffs under U.S. President Donald Trump threaten to sever access to its largest market, which accounts for nearly a third of its $28.5 billion annual shipments of gem and jewellery.
In Surat, where more than 80% of the world’s rough diamonds are cut and polished, orders have started drying up with looming U.S. tariffs shaking buyer confidence.
While smaller exporters have fewer options to cushion the blow, some bigger players plan to shift part of their operations to countries like Botswana, which faces a lower 15% U.S. tariff. India’s current 25% tariff is set to double on Aug. 27.