Indian Leader, Retailer Among 2025 DDG Honorees

Mumbai, India—They are not just looking at making a difference in the short run; they have a long-term vision, an agenda for transformation and change.

And they are sparkling symbols of the vast and lasting positive impact that diamonds have on the life of broader communities, in India and in other countries.

They are the honorees who will be recognized at the 2025 Diamonds Do Good Awards, scheduled to take place June 5, the night before the JCK Las Vegas show starts.

This year, two of the four honorees are from India. 

Govind Dholakia, Good Award for Lifetime Achievement
Govind Dholakia’s journey has been nothing short of extraordinary. It is an inspiring saga of six decades of commitment to trust, ethics, integrity, and transparency.

These core values have remained paramount from his first steps into the industry in 1964 until today.

Dholakia now heads one of the world’s leading diamond companies, SRK Group, which is setting new benchmarks for the industry in sustainability and community engagement.

The company’s factories, SRK Empire and SRK House, are the world’s first net-zero energy diamond manufacturing facilities, and emissions per carat for the diamonds crafted there are well below the global industry average.

Dholakia also has pioneered a number of community outreach projects, touching the lives of thousands of people over the decades.

There is the V. N. Godhani English School, established in the memory of a former partner at SRK Group, and a relief center that operates on the same campus.

Dholakia personally meets about people daily at the center and guides those who seek medical, educational, social and other assistance.

The Sarva Rog Nidan Medical Camp is organized every year for tribal communities in the Dang, Bharuch, and Narmada districts in Gujarat.

Besides diagnostic facilities, medicines are distributed free where necessary, and gifts of clothing, toys, food packets, and various other materials are given to the deserving.

Dholakia has also set up the Matrushree Santokbaa Medical Centre at Dudhala, his ancestral village, with three full-time doctors. It caters to about 300 patients each day.

Similarly, the Matrushree Nanduba Popatbhai Medical Centre aims to provide affordable healthcare services, including consultation with about 50 specialist doctors at highly subsidized rates.

Dholakia also has initiated multiple projects to boost “green” energy.

These include a gift of solar rooftop panels to 1,000 members of the SRK family; free installation of solar rooftop solar panels at homes of 750 martyrs (on the 75th anniversary of India’s Independence in 2022) and lighting up around 300 houses and public areas of Dudhala village with solar energy.

He also has developed the SRK Bhagyalaxmi Yojana, which provides support to families with a large number of girls; and the Pure Vivaah, a mass community wedding celebrated with simple rituals and minimal expenditure.

Tanishq, Purpose-Driven Business Leadership Award
Tanishq, the most popular jewelry brand in India from the Tata Group, is part of Titan Company Ltd. 

The company says it is dedicated to fostering a harmonious relationship between people, community, and planet and to prioritizing sustainability, social responsibility, and environmental stewardship.

Some of the projects of its jewelry division provide shining examples.

In the retail segment, where the Tanishq jewelry chain currently has 475-plus boutiques in more than 270 cities, it has been the pioneer of business practices that encourage transparency and full disclosure. 

This includes its decades-old practice of installing a Karatmeter to test gold purity in every store, and its recent introduction of SynthDetect XL Plus and DiamondProof, to boost consumer confidence in natural diamonds. 

Speaking to the media a few months ago, Tanishq CEO Ajoy Chawla said that the company offers its own certificate of Tanishq Diamond guarantee and has, “the most transparent buy-back policy in India, enabling trust and peace of mind for our customers.”

Titan has also led the way in establishing industry-leading standards in transforming the value chain, upheld by rigorous 4P (people, process, place, and planet) vendor evaluation, and the Titan Supplier Engagement Protocol. 

Titan’s annual report for 2023-2024 noted that the company has “successfully transitioned the majority of our vendors … from cottage to the standard category … with our support and guidance, some vendors have achieved world-class status, ensuring the highest standards of dignity and treatment for all involved.”

The company’s commitment towards environment and sustainability is evident in its factories transitioning towards zero water consumption through extensive recycling and rainwater-harvesting initiatives. 

In 2023-2024, Titan reported that it had invested in two huge rainwater-harvesting cisterns for its jewelry factory in Hosur, with a capacity to store 140 million liters (about 37 million gallons) of water, which, in a normal rainfall year, can help fully satisfy the needs of the plant.

It also 03/12/2025 10:00has undertaken rejuvenation of the nearby Hosur Lake, which will have a total capacity of 80 million liters (about 21 million gallons) when completed. 

Titan also has installed cleaner technologies and uses renewable energy to reduce the company’s carbon footprint; it is working towards developing circular economy initiatives and processes to reduce, and reuse the waste created during production.

It has a variety of community projects focused on education, especially the education of the underprivileged girls, skill development for the less privileged, and support for Indian arts, crafts, and heritage.

Its landmark project in the social space is the establishment of Karigar (craftsperson) Centres. 

This has been a transformative initiative in a traditional sector like jewelry where, in earlier decades, craftspeople had to work for long hours in unsafe and poor working conditions with possible exposure to toxic gases, and poor lighting and seating.

Titan has worked closely with its vendor partners and the craftspeople to transform the working environment. 

In addition to providing good infrastructure, it has deployed many management, production and quality systems, leading to improved productivity for the craftspeople, year-over-year growth for vendor partners, enhanced quality, and reduced lead-time and inventory levels.

According to the annual report, Titan has established four Karigar Centres and 26 Karigar parks over the years.