The average wage of workers in Surat's diamond sector has increased by 40% since 2008, according to a survey by the Surat Diamond Association (SDA).

SDA attributes the rise in salaries to a general recovery in the global diamond industry, which is characterized by growing consumer demand for diamonds – especially in emerging markets such as India and China – and a steep rise in the price of polished diamonds.

SDA President Dinesh Navadia said that some had believed that the diamond industry would not be able to recover from the international financial crisis, which hit the diamond industry in late 2008 and caused hundreds of thousands of Surat's diamond workers to lose their jobs. "But the revival was visible is a record one-year time," Navadia told the Times of India.

The Times quoted two diamond workers who said their wages had increased significantly, and one diamond manufacturer who said that he had raised salaries by close to 35% for all of his employees.

The SDA head also noted that the local diamond sector was implementing a reward scheme for workers who referred other skilled workers to employers in the diamond trade.