Gujarat diamantaire gifts 600 cars, FDs as Diwali bonus to employees

Diamond merchant Savjibhai Dholakia, whose lavish Diwali gifting is among the corporate world's most talked about events, this year gave away 600 cars, fixed deposits and insurance policies to 1,700 "diamond artists and engineers" working at his firm.

The ceremony this year, held at Dholakia's Harikrishna Exports here Thursday, had Prime Minister Narendra Modi address the employees through video-conferencing.

It was titled the "Skill India Incentive Ceremony".

In a statement, the company said, "As a part of its loyalty bonus programme, the company gave incentives to around 1,700 diamond artists and diamond engineers in the form of cars and fixed deposits."

It added that the firm had also given life insurance ranging from Rs 5 million to Rs 10 million to the employees.

Each car gifted this year costs between Rs 4-4.5 lakh, the cumulative cost of 600 cars adding up to around Rs 2.7 million.

An employee had to pay around Rs 40,000 as down payment for the car, while the company will bear rest of the cost.

While the firm did not bestow gifts last year, in 2016 it gave employees 400 flats and 1,260 cars.

In 2015, the Diwali gifting count stood at 491 cars and 200 houses as employee incentives.

Dholakia said that he wanted each of his 5000-odd employees to have a car and a house and the annual Diwali gifting is a way to achieve this target.

Beneficiaries are selected through a software-based system after they qualify for the company's loyalty bonus programme, he added.

"We at Hari Krishna Exports believe that employees are the base to a strong and long-running organisation. We truly value and admire the hard work of our employees and we wanted to express our gratitude towards their proficiency and enthusiasm," Dholakia said.

"The ceremony will encourage and motivate our employees to work with the same synergy in the future," he said, adding that such bonuses will make employees "become serious in their work."

Incidentally, the firm in September this year had given high-end SUVs to three senior employees, who had completed 25 years with the firm, for being "pillars of the company".

"It benefits the company, the employee's family, society and, in turn, the country. And more than anything, it gives me immense pleasure," he said.

"I could not sleep at night when I got my first car. God has given us wealth to give happiness to others," he said at the firm's Skill India Incentive Ceremony Thursday.

Dholakia's advice to those who got these cars was "maintain discipline and drive the car with respect".