Surat: Savji Dholakia, a Surat-based billionaire diamond merchant who famously made his son do blue-collar jobs to learn the value of money, has gifted 400 flats and 1,260 cars as Diwali bonuses to his employees.

Hare Krishna Exports, Dholakia’s diamond firm, has spent Rs 51 crores on Diwali bonuses this year, its golden jubilee. As many as 1,716 employees were named as the company’s best performers.

The bonuses, which were announced at an informal meeting of employees on Tuesday, have been an annual ritual at Hare Krishna Exports since.

Last year, Dholakia’s company gifted 491 cars and 200 flats to its employees. The year before that, it spent Rs. 50 crore on performance incentives, Dholakia said.

Dholakia, who hails from Dudhala village in Amreli district, established and grew his diamond business using a loan from his uncle. His considerable wealth wasn’t earned overnight, and he has sought to impart that wisdom to his son Dravya, whom he sent to Kochi with three sets of clothing and Rs 7,000 emergency money, so that the young man could learn what’s it’s like to stand on his own feet.