The state government has imposed a partial lockdown until April 30 to contain the spread of a second wave of the Covid.
Anoop Mehta, BDB, president confirmed that while shutting down the bourse after 8 pm on April 5 “until further notice,” officials from the bourse have requested Subhash Desai, the state’s industries minister, to “treat the import and export operations therein as essential services.”
“We have requested that BDB be allowed to function with 20% staff to fulfil export commitments,” Mehta added.
Customs is functional as are Mumbai’s special economic zones like MIDC and Seepz . But orders won’t be fulfilled until the consignments move and are processed in BDB, a diamnataire told ET.
Another one stated that the diamond bourse should be treated at par with stock exchanges and clearing corporations which have been treated as essential services.
India imports around $16 bn worth of rough diamonds and exports $21bn worth of polished ones. While the cutting and polishing happens largely at Surat, the exports happen through Mumbai’s BDB, with over 4000 offices.
The Surat centre also remains open.
