Employees to Indian billionaire light up with joy after receiving Diwali bonus of cars and flats
The fleet of over 400 cars from the 2014 Diwali bonus to employees of Hare Krishna Exports. Image via dailyamin.com
29th October 2016
THIS year, over 1,700 hard-working employees for wealthy diamond trader Savji Dholakia will be celebrating a merry Diwali indeed, as he has gifted them with up to 400 apartments and 1,260 cars for the annual bonus.
While it is common for bosses in India to give out bonuses in honor of Diwali, the largest Hindu festival, most are unable to match Dholakia, who is known for his generosity.
Last year, the owner and chairman of Hare Krishna Exports gave away 491 cars and 200 flats, while the year before that, he awarded employees a total of Rs500 million ($7.5 million) as an incentive.
In an announcement regarding this year’s bonuses, Dholakia said: “Our aim is that each employee must have his own home and car in the next five years. So we have decided to gift cars, homes, and jewellery to employees.”
“We are arranging for houses for those who already own cars, while those who don’t have a four-wheeler will get one,” he added, as reported by Hindustan Times.
The lucky few were chosen out of 5,500 staff members employed by Hare Krishna Exports for showing exceptional “loyalty, skills and value addition” over the past year, Dholakia told CNNMoney, adding that the total amount for this year’s bonuses is estimated to cost around $7.7 million.
“We have exports worth [$700 million] across more than 70 countries, but nothing is more valuable than our employees,” he said.
However, nothing comes for free: according to Dholakia, the company will cover the initial burden by paying off the home and car installments for the first five years, while deducting a monthly sum from employees to cover future installments.
The apartments, measuring at 1,100-sq ft each, come under the company’s own housing scheme.
“The flats would come dirt cheap at Rs15 lakh [Rs1.5 million], while the monthly installment, which the employee will start paying after five years, will be Rs11,000 ($165),” he explained, as quoted by local news agency IANS.
Earlier this year, the diamond tycoon made headlines when he sent his 21-year-old son to the southern Indian state of Kerala to work for a month with only three sets of clothes and a modest sum of cash to teach his son “the value of money”.
