Govind Dholakia’s rags-to-riches story

Govind Dholakia, fondly called Govind kaka, is a Leuva Patidar from Amreli. The billionaire diamantaire who runs the company Shree Ramkrishna Exports Private Limited had humble beginnings as a diamond polisher in Surat.

Soon after his name was announced Wednesday, Dholakia told media persons: “Prime Minister Narendra Modi, (Union) Home Minister Amit Shah, and BJP National president J. P. Nadda have given me such an opportunity. Not only me, but Surat city and Gujarat will also get the benefits. As a Rajya Sabha MP, I will take up the issues not only of the diamond industry, but those faced by other industries as well in Parliament”. The 76-year-old, who calls himself ‘apolitical’, is a philanthropist. His latest initiative involves building Hanuman temples in 311 villages in the tribal district of Dang.

Fifty seven of these temples have already been built, says P. P. Swami, a priest from the district and a close aide of the diamond businessman.

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In October 2021, he underwent a cadaveric liver transplant at Surat’s Kiran Hospital that he is the chairman of. The transplant, which would have cost him Rs 10 crore in the US, was done at Rs 16.50 lakh. As a token of gratitude, Dholakia donated Rs 1 crore to the hospital and Rs  2,000 each to 1,600 employees.

Dholakia has written an autobiography named ‘Diamonds are forever, so are morals’. He has also delivered speeches on his life journey at leading institutions such as Indian Space Research Organisation, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM-A) and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) –Delhi.