Panna diamonds glitter, labourers to become millionaire

BHOPAL: After long wait, two labourers of Panna will finally become millionaires. The diamonds mined by them have fetched a combined price of over Rs 1.89 crore.

Of the 261 diamonds , 43 could get buyers in the three-day auction that had started on January 7. These precious diamonds were mined from the shallow mines of Panna.

The 18-carat diamond mined by Radheshyam , a poor labourer from Panna and 29.46 carat diamond mined by another labourer Brajesh Uppadhaya had no takers in the auction held two months back. This time on the last day, the 29.46 carat stone was purchased by Nandkishor Jadia, a diamond merchant from Banda district of UP at a cost of Rs 1,16,51,439 while the one weighing 18 carat was taken away by Bhupendra, a diamond trader from Panna. He will pay Rs 72,61,065. The 29.46 carat diamond was mined in September this year, while the 18 carat diamond was mined about a year back.

“The 18 carat diamond is superior in quality than the one weighing 29.46 carat”, diamond office sources said. The former was priced at Rs 4,00,500 per carat while the heavier stone could fetch Rs 3,95,500 per carat. Any one can take the small shallow diamond mine lease and try his luck by digging the solid, washing it for months.

The diamond officer SN Pandey said that the diamond merchants have to pay 20% of the cost of the diamond within two days while the remaining 80% in the next one month.

The labourers will have to pay 12% of the total cost of the diamond as royalty to get the remaining sum. More than 50 diamond merchants from Mumbai, Surat, Delhi and other places participated in the auction.

Courtesy: TOI