Hari Krishna Exports

Hari Krishna Exports Pvt. Ltd.
Private
Industry Diamond Manufactures and Exporters
Founded 1992 [1]
Founders Mr. Savji Dholakia [1]
Headquarters Mumbai, India
Number of locations
 Mumbai
Hong Kong
New York
Antwerp
Shanghai
Surat
Dubai
Area served
 Worldwide
Key people
 Chairman: Mr. Savji Dholakia

Executive Management:
Mr. Himmat Dholakia
Mr. Tulsi Dholakia
Mr. Ghanshyam Dholakia
Mr. Bharat Patel
Mr. Naresh Lunagaria
Mr. Hasmukh Dholakiya
Products Diamonds and Jewellery
Revenue Increase US$ 975 million
(INR 6,000 crores) [2]
Owner Mr. Savji Dholakia and Family
Number of employees
 6,000 [3] (As of 2014)
Divisions Raw Diamond Procurement
Diamond Polishing
Diamond Marketing & Sales
Website www.diamondbyhk.com

Hari Krishna Exports Pvt. Ltd., also known as HK, is a large Indian diamond conglomerate, headquartered in a 25,000 sq. feet office in The Capital, Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai. [4] HK was established in 1992 by Mr. Savji Dholakia and his 3 brothers.[1]

HK is exporting polished diamonds to 75 countries [2] Currently, HK manufactures over 40,000 carats of diamonds every month (500,000 carats every year).[5]

Timeline

Pre-Years (Learning the Trade ~ 1977 - 1991)

Mr. Savji Dholakia was born in a farming family in Amreli, Gujarat, India.

Early Years of HK (1992 - 2004)

HK started as a small-time diamond cutting and polishing unit in Surat with a few machines and employees.

As the customer base grew, so did the need for raw diamonds to meet the growing demand. But, HK's rough diamond purchasing was limited to Surat. So Mr. Ghanshyam Dholakia, who was already based in Mumbai at the time, was tasked with broadening HK's presence in the city. In due time, he also ventured towards establishing a marketing & sales wing in Mumbai. [6]

Struggles

Before HK could expand its footprint in Mumbai, Mr. Dholakia initially had no choice but to carry diamonds in a bag and sit under a tree near Opera House, Mumbai - waiting for brokers to take him to various export firms.

In 1993, a customer eventually duped him of INR 27 lakh (US$ 90,000 at the time). There was virtually nothing left to trade or sell. After many loan applications and rejections from various banks, HK finally secured a loan of INR 25 lakh (~ US$ 83,000) to start afresh. The Dholakia family had to resort to declaring its personal savings as collateral.

Mr. Dholakia learnt from the experience and started apportioning the risks so that a non-payment/ fraud would not threaten to annihilate HK's business prospects.

Growth (2005 - Present)

In 2005, HK launched its own jewellery brand - KISNA.[6] Today, it is the largest distributed diamond jewellery brand in India, available in over 6,250 jewellery outlets. KISNA offers over 563 designs of rings, earrings, pendants, necklaces, bangles, bracelets and nose pins. It uses VVS diamonds and 18k hallmarked gold.[5] The year 2007-08 was another landmark epoch, as HK grew by 49% and recorded a turnover of INR 1,025 crores (US$ 260 million at the time).

The vertical integration process transformed HK from a small diamond manufacturer to a complete mine-to-market supply chain with supply from miners like Diamond trading company (DTC),[7] Rio Tinto,[1] DDC (earlier BHP),[8] Alrosa.[9]

References