Diamond World (DW) November- December 2020

Cover Story
Ankit Shah, Director, Ankit Gems
Indian diamond
traders who are
only into domestic
business are yet
to recover their
losses. The crisis
has taught us to be
cautious and take
calculated risks.
One has to check
leverage ratio.
Opportunities
also turn up, but
you need to have
the means to grab
such opportunities
and be patient
and take adequate
caution in
managing finances
For almost 40 years now, Ankit Gems
has pioneered in manufacturing
some of the world’s finest diamonds.
The company was established by
Arvind Shah, Arun Shah and Dilip
Shah with a vision to be a global player
distinguished for value creation, enabled
by an extensively developed supply
chain, right from sourcing of rough to
manufacturing to distribution of quality
polished diamonds. With that vision
and a steadfast approach to achieving
the same, today Ankit Gems has grown
into an empire that employs thousands of
employees world over.
The leadership is now being held by
a set of highly qualified youngsters who
are steering the company based on the
strong founding principles. Ankit Shah,
is a young thought leader, who not only
leads the company with what he has
learnt from his predecessors but also
his own vision for the company. “At the
start, like all industries, the diamond
industry was badly affected. We belong
to luxury segment and during crisis,
luxury spending is something not many
people want to undertake. The only
silver lining was that – the two biggest
markets, China and America had Covid
at different times. So demand was coming
from markets where Covid numbers were
receding,” says Ankit Shah.
Cling on to the silver lining
Many exporters bounced back as strong
demand came from China and U.S.
“Indian diamond traders who are only
into domestic business – are yet to
recover their losses. The crisis has taught
us to be cautious and take calculated
risks. One has to check leverage ratio.
Opportunities also turn up, but you
need to have the means to grab such
opportunities and be patient and take
adequate caution in managing finances,”
he adds.
The power of human resource
However hard the situation was going to
be, the company right from the beginning
decided not to lay off workers, as staff is
always considered family at Ankit Gems.
Providing the best work atmosphere
and taking care of their employees have
been the cornerstones of the company.
“During March we paid two months’
salary together – because we thought
they will need the money when they are
facing lockdown. Today, our employees
feel more motivated and put in the best
efforts when required. Our staff has
always turned up for work whenever
required and we too ensured that we
follow all the Covid-specific norms
suggested by the government.”
34 | November-December 2020 | DiamonD WorlD