00:03Surat in Western India is known as the diamond capital of the world.
00:07Nearly every diamond sold globally is first cut and polished here.
00:12But today, inside Surat's vast diamond market, business is slowing down fast.
00:19When the Iran war started, we faced tremendous difficulty.
00:22Business was slow before that, but at least there was some work.
00:25Now, because of the war, our business has been completely devastated.
00:29This industry was already struggling.
00:32Western sanctions had cut off Russian diamond supplies.
00:35Trump's tariffs on India added more pressure.
00:39Now, traders here say the conflict in the Middle East has pushed the sector deeper into crisis.
00:45Trade routes are disrupted. Shipping and insurance costs have surged.
00:50And in Surat, it's workers like Paragadia who are paying the price.
00:55For eight years, Pare worked in Surat's diamond factories, cutting and polishing natural diamonds.
01:03These streets once used to be filled with workers, but now they're deserted.
01:09The factory he worked laid him off three months ago.
01:13This is his first visit back to the factory since he lost his job.
01:18This is the place I used to work. Let me show you the place where I used to sit to
01:22work.
01:27For years, polishing diamonds helped Pare support his family back in his village.
01:33He earned around 350 euros a month, a decent income by local standards.
01:40He was not alone. More than 50 workers have lost their jobs at this factory, which once amplified 200 people.
01:48Right now, I feel really bad. When I worked here, it always felt like family.
01:53Meanwhile, many of the workers who are still employed say their salaries have been cut nearly in half.
02:01When I lost my job, I tried looking for a job in many places, but couldn't find one.
02:06I visited many diamond factories, but they refused to give me work.
02:10After losing my job, I was very upset and didn't know what to do.
02:13When I came home, my family would ask me about money, about for my daughter's school fees, and the pressure
02:19was unbearable.
02:23There's a quite unease inside many of smaller diamond workshops like this one.
02:28The machines are still running, but workers and factory owners say there's a growing anxiety about the future.
02:34They say rough diamonds are becoming harder to source, production has slowed sharply,
02:38and many workers who once worked 10-hour shifts are now getting barely 4 or 5 hours of work a
02:45day.
02:47Surat's diamond industry depends on rough stones imported from Russia, the UAE, Belgium and parts of Africa.
02:55Once cut and polished here, those diamonds are sent to the United States, Surat's Lind and the UAE.
03:03But since the outbreak of the conflict, supply chains have slowed down.
03:08Exports of cut and polished diamonds have fallen significantly in recent years.
03:13What's happening here shows how vulnerable industries like Surat's diamond sector have become to geopolitical conflict.
03:20Walls taking place thousands of kilometers away are now directly affecting workers.
03:24Whose livelihood depend entirely on international trade and uninterrupted supply chains.
03:29India's gems and jewelry industry employs around 5 million people and is a major part of the country's economy.
03:36The crisis has hit small factory owners especially hard.
03:42Kalpej Damaliyah used to run a diamond workshop employing 60 people.
03:47When the Iran war began in late February, he could barely source any rough diamonds to keep them working.
03:55It's a really difficult time for my workers and me. Our business has been destroyed.
04:00He has since shut down his factory and shipped it into a single rented room with just 10 workers.
04:07Our business has been massively hit by the war. For us the work has been reduced by more than 50%.
04:14I now fear that my factory unit might shut down. Even if you get work these days, there's no demand
04:20for our polished diamonds.
04:21And what else can we do?
04:25For the last two months, Kalpej has been unable to pay his workers.
04:30My boss hasn't been able to pay our salary for two months. It's going into the third month.
04:35He tells us there's simply no money coming in.
04:40But for some families, there is no turning back.
04:44Divya Makhwana lost her son Kevil last year from an overdose of medication.
04:54Kevil had worked in the diamond sector, but lost his job.
04:58He spent three months searching for new work without success.
05:04There was no other breadwinner in my house, so my son was always tense about not having a job.
05:09I used to say, not to be stressed, that the slump in the diamond industry was temporary
05:13and that he would find work once things picked up. I don't know what he was thinking when he did
05:17it.
05:19After his death, the family was left with hospital bills of around 4,000 euros.
05:24Divya is now trying to pay up that debt by selling handmade souvenirs and delivering them to customers herself.
05:32This work can't pay my debt, but it supports my household expenses and helps to feed my family.
05:39Kevil's story is not an isolated one.
05:42According to the Surat Diamond Workers Union, more than 80 diamond workers have died by suicide in the city over
05:49the past two years.
05:51At the union's office, workers arrive every day to register complaints, many reporting unpaid wages and sudden job losses.
06:09The diamond industry hasn't seen a crisis like this for 50 years.
06:16I've been working in the industry for 20 years and have never seen anything like it.
06:20After the 2008 global recession, things improved a little each day.
06:25But in this crisis, the situation only gets worse.
06:32But when DW reached out to the Gem and Jewelry Export Promotion Council, the government body that represents the industry,
06:40its representative denied any crisis.
06:44For Parekh Gediya, waiting for the industry to recover is no longer an option.
06:50Unable to find work in the industry, he has decided to become as a taxi driver, earning a fraction of
06:56what he once made polishing diamonds.
06:59But it's a living.
07:02The conflict is thousands of kilometers away.
07:04But it's us, the poor workers, who are paying the price for a war that is not of our making.
07:12Back in Surat's workshops, the machines still run.
07:16But there are fewer workers on the factory floors.
07:19And for many workers here, the future of the industry they want to slide on is looking increasingly uncertain.
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