Diamantaires in Surat, the world's biggest diamond cutting and polishing centre, will no longer have to send their precious stones to Mumbai for export formalities and custom clearances . The city will soon be just a link to international markets, as the Rs 80,000-crore diamond business hub's airport will get its own strongroom for the direct export of gems by July-end. S D Sharma, director of Surat airport, said, "We will be allotting space for the strongroom by the end of this month."

KK Sharma, chief executive office, Surat Heera Bourse (SHB), said, "Surat's gain is Mumbai's loss. We handle the import of rough diamonds worth Rs 30,000 crore per annum. The strongroom will facilitate the transit of precious cargo from Surat for direct export."

Custom clearance will be done by the SHB. "Since Surat does not have international connectivity, we cannot set up a custom clearance facility right now. Diamantaires will have to get custom clearance of their goods from the SHB office and then store it at the airport strongroom," said Sharma. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has cleared the proposal.

The strongroom will also provide vaults for storage and adequate insurance cover for the safety of parcels, which was earlier done in Mumbai. Dinesh Navadia, president of Surat Diamond Association, said, "Till now, we have been carrying out all procedures from Mumbai. Once Surat is equipped with the strongroom, most diamantaires will be exporting their goods directly from the airport."