Surat Diamond Cluster: What the Export Town Is Designated For
- Updated
On 25 August 2025, two days before a 50% US tariff on Indian goods took effect, a diamond firm in Surat's Katargam district let more than 150 workers go without notice. One of them, a 24-year-old with five years at the bench and a home loan to pay, asked a reporter, "now where will I go and how will I survive?" (Outlook, 28 Aug 2025 (opens in a new tab), Reported).
Surat is the town that cuts and polishes most of the world's diamonds by reputation, and its official export category says the same thing. This is a short page. It exists mainly to keep Surat's diamond trade apart from its textile markets, which are a different business with a page of their own, and to give a foreign buyer the few facts that change a decision. Diamonds are a specialist trade, and the depth on stones, reports and jewellery is on gems and jewellery.
Is Surat A Textile Town Or A Diamond Town?
Both, but only one is official. India's list of Towns of Export Excellence names Surat for gems and jewellery (DGFT, Appendix 1B (opens in a new tab)). Surat's famous fabric and saree markets aren't on that list, and nothing official we read gives their size. If you came for fabric, go to Surat's textile markets. If you came for stones, read on.
What Does Surat Actually Sell Abroad?
Loose stones, mostly. Surat cuts and polishes natural diamonds and, more and more, grows and cuts lab-grown ones. Finished fine jewellery is more of a Mumbai and Jaipur trade, and fashion jewellery is made elsewhere again, as the fashion jewellery page explains. So a jewellery brand usually meets Surat through a stone dealer or a manufacturer that buys from Surat, rather than at a Surat workshop.
The lab-grown shift matters for anyone buying stones. Indian lab-grown diamonds usually ship with grading reports that state whether a stone was grown by the CVD or HPHT method, which buyers value. Growers vary, so ask for the growth method and any post-growth treatment in writing for every parcel. The details are on gems and jewellery.
Can A Small Foreign Buyer Get Trade Terms In Surat?
Not easily. A US buyer with a registered company reported approaching two wholesalers and still getting retail-level quotes, because the trade runs on standing and volume (r/labdiamond, 2024 (opens in a new tab), Reported). Surat sells to dealers and manufacturers it knows. A small brand usually does better through an established dealer or a jewellery maker, or by meeting exporters at a fair with an introduction.
How Do Stones Leave Surat?
By air, and usually not from Surat. Surat's airport handled no international freight in FY2025-26 (AAI (opens in a new tab)), so parcels fly from Mumbai. The customs freight-station list does include an air cargo station at the Surat Diamond Bourse (ICEGATE CFS list, 5 Feb 2024 (opens in a new tab)), which suggests parcels can be cleared in Surat and flown out of Mumbai. Your dealer will tell you which route it uses. Sea cargo from Surat uses the Hazira terminals, 22 km away in a straight line, though that matters for the city's other industries more than for stones.
Duty on diamonds and jewellery differs sharply by market and changed through 2026, so check your line on India to the US or India to the UK, and confirm the code with your customs broker before you price.
Where Do You Meet Surat's Exporters?
At Mumbai's IIJS shows, run by the gems and jewellery export council. IIJS Signature runs 7 to 11 January 2027 in Mumbai, and the council's shows are for its members' trade buyers, so register early. For hands-on work in India, such as visiting a dealer, witnessing a parcel being sealed or arranging the paperwork, SourcingSync (opens in a new tab) can help.
Back To Katargam
The worker who lost his job in August 2025 was cutting natural stones. Whether he found work again we don't know. For a buyer, the export figures above tell the rest of the story. Surat's skill base is real and adaptable, the product mix is moving fast towards lab-grown, and the right first question to any Surat supplier is which kind of stone you're actually buying.