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Bonus time: Workers get cars, homes, diamonds

New Delhi - A diamond merchant in India's Gujarat state has gifted cars, flats and jewellery to 1 200 employees as a reward for meeting targets, the company said on Monday.

Savji Dholakia who runs a diamond export company in Surat city gifted 491 cars, 207 two-bedroom flats and 570 diamond necklaces ahead of Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights being celebrated on Thursday.

"These incentives are part of our loyalty programme. Employees who have shown consistent and superior performance over the past five years have been rewarded," Naresh Mayani, Dholakia's secretary, said over the phone from Surat.

The incentives totalled 350m rupees ($5.7m), Mayani said, adding this was an annual Diwali bonus for the company's employees.

Mayani said there was a "wave of happiness" among company employees ever since the Diwali bonanza was announced on Sunday.

"No one in my family has a car, so when I came to know that I'm getting a vehicle, my happiness knew no bounds. Everyone is excited and celebrating at home," he said.

Surat is the hub of India's diamond trade, which has suffered from India's economic slowdown in recent years.

In an example of a rags-to-riches story, Dholakia borrowed money to start off his diamond business in the early 1990s.

Today his company reportedly an annual turnover of about 60bn rupees with a workforce of 8 000 and offices in Belgium, Hong Kong and Britain.

 - Sapa-DPA

* Holiday season is fast approaching. Tell us what you are planning to spend your bonus on.

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