The owner of the Hari Krishna diamond company, Savji Dholakia of Surat, who was recently awarded the Padma Shri award, has made headlines yet again.
He has donated a brand-new chopper worth Rs 50 crore that was given to him by his family for medical and other emergencies in Surat.
After receiving the fourth-highest civilian award, Dholakia’s family presented him with the chopper.
He had been planning to give the people of Surat a chopper for quite some time. He was quick to announce his decision after receiving the unexpected gift.
“I was not aware my family was going to give such a huge surprise gift. I could not deny the gift from my family, but I wholeheartedly decided to gift it for the social cause,” he said.
“Surat is the economic capital of Gujarat but does not have its own chopper. Thus, I am dedicating this gift to the people of Surat and for the social cause,” added Dholakia, who has dedicated his life to water conservation and digging ponds in the water-starved Saurashtra region.
He has already constructed over 75 ponds in his hometown of Lathi, in the Amreli district of Saurashtra. All of these ponds were built on barren government land in villages such as Akala, Dudhala, and Lathi.
He had previously made headlines for rewarding his employees with 500 cars, 471 jewellery sets, and 280 two-bedroom flats as part of a loyalty programme.
Savji Dholakia’s company employs over 5,500 people and has an annual revenue of over Rs 6000 crore.
Dholakia, who dropped out of school at the age of 13, arrived in Surat in 1977 on a state transport bus with only Rs 12.5 (twelve rupees fifty paisa) in his pocket as fare, and is now the diamond industry’s and Surat’s most powerful man.