Savjibhai Dholakia was born into a farming family in Dudhala, Amreli, and came to Surat as a teenager with no money and no connections in the diamond industry. What he built from that starting point — Hari Krishna Exports, a ₹6,000 crore diamond enterprise employing over 8,000 people — stands as one of the most remarkable entrepreneurial journeys in modern Indian business. His story begins not with capital or education but with a willingness to work harder than anyone around him
The diamond workshops of Surat in the early 1970s were where Savjibhai Dholakia learned his trade as a young daily wage worker, spending long hours cutting and polishing rough stones under the guidance of more experienced artisans. He observed everything around him — the craft, the trade relationships, the supply chain — building a comprehensive understanding of the industry from its most basic level. Those years in the cutting units gave him the technical knowledge and industry insight that no classroom could have provided.
From a modest rented workspace with a small team of workers, Savjibhai launched his own diamond cutting operation, choosing reliability and quality over speed of growth. He believed that trust between a supplier and buyer was the only foundation worth building on, so every batch of diamonds that left his unit met the same high standard. This uncompromising approach earned him long-term relationships with international buyers that became the commercial backbone of Hari Krishna Exports.
Today, Hari Krishna Exports operates a world-class manufacturing facility in Surat with one of the most productive diamond processing floors in the industry, employing thousands of skilled artisans working alongside modern precision equipment. The company\'s reputation for quality and ethical sourcing has made it the preferred partner for global luxury jewellery brands that cannot afford to compromise on either count. What began as one man\'s determination to learn a trade has become a globally recognised diamond enterprise with revenues of ₹6,000 crore.
One of the most celebrated traditions at Hari Krishna Exports is Savjibhai\'s practice of gifting cars, flats, and gold to employees who have served the company with dedication and loyalty. Hundreds of workers have received cars as part of annual Diwali celebrations, a gesture that became a defining part of the company\'s culture and an inspiration to the entire diamond industry. The programme made Hari Krishna Exports famous not just for its diamonds but for the **way it treated its people
The Hari Krishna Exports office complex in Surat is a landmark that reflects the ambition and scale Savjibhai built over five decades of consistent effort. The company today employs over 8,000 people, making it one of the largest employers in Surat\'s diamond sector and a significant contributor to the local economy. Walking through the building, it is difficult to imagine that the man who built it once came to this city as a teenage farm worker with nothing but hope.