Surat diamond tycoon gives 1,260 cars, 400 flats to employees as Diwali gifts

Savji Dholakia, a generous diamond tycoon in Gujarat, is once again giving away hundreds of cars and flats to his employees as a bonus for meeting company targets.

Dholakia, who runs a diamond export firm in Surat, announced his company will give 1,260 cars, 400 flats and pieces of jewellery to his employees ahead of Diwali, which falls on the weekend.

“Our aim is that each employee must have his own home and car in the next five years. So we have decided to gift cars, homes and jewellery to employees,” Dholakia, owner of the Hare Krishna Exports, said.

“...We are arranging for houses for those who already own cars, while those who don’t have a four-wheeler will get one,” he said.

He said the rewards were in recognition of the outstanding performance and dedication shown by employees in the last five years.

The company will be spending an estimated Rs 500 million (Rs 50 crore) under the loyalty programme to reward an unknown number of staff from a total workforce of 5,500.

Most employees receive presents of some kind from their bosses during Diwali, the festival of lights, but they are usually boxes of Indian sweets.

But Dholakia has been making headlines by giving expensive gifts to his employees since 2012, when three employees received cars for their performance.

The generous boss gave 491 cars and 207 flats to his employees under a similar programme in 2014.

Dholakia’s firm is one of the leading polishing companies in India’s diamond hub Surat and exports diamonds to some 75 countries.