Work has resumed at the Kesri Exports diamond polishing firm in Surat after several hundred workers demanded a raise of 30%, the Times of India reports.

The diamond company says it pays its employees 40% above the standard wages in the local diamond industry and therefore there is no question of raising workers' pay.

A representative of Kesri Exports told the Times that the firm was "the top pay master in the industry" and said that some people had been "instigated to create a scene."

This latest demand for a pay raise came after a weekend call for a strike by Surat's diamond workers unless wages were increased by 30% across the board fizzled. Surat is currently facing a shortage of skilled diamond trade workers after hundreds of thousands were laid off when the global financial crisis hit the city's diamond sector.