Indian Diamond Industry Suffering From Sanctions Imposed on Russia's Alrosa, Trade Union Says

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Workers at diamond processing centers in the Indian state of Gujarat are having the seamy sides of the sanctions imposed by the United States on Russian diamonds mining company Alrosa as response to Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, the head of Diamond Workers Union Gujarat, Ramesh Zilariya, said on Monday.

"Since the payment problem surfaced following the sanctions on Russia due to the Russian-Ukraine war, supply of rough diamonds have come down. Also, there is a nervousness in the US market, our biggest buyer," Zilariya said, as quoted by Indian newspaper Economic Times.

Working hours have been reduced from 12 to eight hours, which directly affects wages of up to one million workers.

"This has forced the cutting and polishing units to cut down production. As result, our wages have got impacted. Earlier, we used to work seven days a week. Now it has been brought down to five days a week", Zilariya added.

India imports about 10% of Alrosa's total production of rough diamonds, the media noted.

Alrosa is the world's largest producer of diamonds, accounting for 27% of the world and 95% of Russian diamond production. Alrosa's sales volume of rough and polished diamonds reached 4.2 billion dollars last year.

On 24 February, Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine after the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk appealed for help in defending themselves against Ukrainian forces. In response, the US and the EU rolled out a comprehensive sanctions campaign against Moscow, which includes airspace closures and restrictive measures targeting numerous Russian officials and entities, media and financial institutions.