The officials will take an assurance from the unit owners promising to restart their business at the earliest. Sources said the Labour Department officials will also take strict action against those unit owners who fail to start their factories on a fixed date.

The Labour Department had called a meeting with the Diamond Workers’ Association and the Surat Diamond Association, and had come to the conclusion that they will request the unit owners to resume operations at their units from January 1. The officials had collected details from the Diamond Workers Association about those units that have shut down. The officials had prepared a strategy keeping in mind the financial condition of the diamond workers, and had made plans to start the factories from January.

Deputy Labour Commissioner M V Jadeja said: “We have intimated the factory owners and have called them to attend the meeting on Friday. We will request them to start their business and will seek a fixed date from them. If they fail to start the factories, we will issue them notices and will take strict legal action against them.”

Jivraj Dharukawala, a diamond exporter, said: “This is not the first time the industry has been affected by recession. The industry had faced such crises in 1991 and 2000, but during that time there were less number of factories. Many diamond polishers had started their own factories on a small scale and had employed youths from their own villages. These factory owners lacked vision and had maintained a stock of polished diamonds to meet the Christmas rush, but due to recession, there has been a fall in demand. The market is not doing well and there is no demand from the international buyers. This has led to a critical situation for the owners of the small units.”

Dinesh Nawadia, a diamond factory owner and vice president of the SDA, said: “We have tried our level best to convince the factory owners to start their units from December 15 but they failed. As a result, we sought the help of the Labour Department to intervene in the issue. We are well aware of the critical situation of the diamond manufacturers as they had converted their cash into diamonds, and now the business has come to a halt. The sale and purchase of diamonds has been stopped and even the diamond traders are facing a great difficulty.” He added: “Another reason is that many factory owners had made investments in the share market and have suffered great losses. They don't have the money to start a business.”