GJEPC holds function at Bharat Diamond Bourse to celebrate Padma Shri awardee Savjibhai Dholakia

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Feb 4, 2022

The Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council joined forces with the Bharat Diamond Bourse to hold a function to celebrate diamantaire and philanthropist Savjibhai Dholakia’s recent Padma Shri Award. 

The event took place at the Sofitel Hotel in Mumbai on February 1 and welcomed a crowd of jewellery industry leaders and entrepreneurs, the GJEPC announced on its website. Dholakia thanked both his family and the jewellery industry as he addressed the crowd at the event held in his honour. 
 
Dholakia is the founder and chairman of diamond manufacturing and export company Hari Krishna Exports and was chosen for the Padma Shri Award on Republic Day this year for his social work. Dholakia runs the Dholakia Foundation which has been focusing on bringing water to the drought-hit region of Saurashtra.

“Savjibhai, has made it his mission to dedicate his life to providing solutions to combat water scarcity by building water bodies [sarovars or lakes] to bring in a holistic development in the [Saurashtra] region,” said GJEPC chairman Colin Shah at the event. “So far, 75 lakes have been constructed under the Dholakia Foundation benefiting 20 villages and two lakh farmers. And the current project that he is spearheading is the Pancha Ganga Sarovar– a collection of five freshwater catchment lakes. It is an unbelievable feat as it is, but he intends to complete 100 lakes in the next two years.” 
 
“Savjibhai’s achievement is a matter of great honour for the entire industry, and we are willing to help him in his endeavour to achieve his goal by adopting a couple of areas where he would want the lakes to be built,” said the Bharat Diamond Bourse’s president Anoop Mehta at the event.