Madhya Pradesh government to set up Diamond Park in the state

The Madhya Pradesh government has initiated the process of setting up a diamond cutting and polishing park in the State’s Panna district, which has a vast reserve of gems, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said.

“Panna is located in Madhya Pradesh but work of cutting polishing of diamonds is carried out in other places. So, we have started the process of setting up a diamond park here,” Chouhan said while addressing a programme at a Polytechnic College Ground here on September 24.

Panna district, located over 380 km from Bhopal, has reserves estimated to be containing diamonds totalling 12 lakh carats, according to officials.

Meanwhile, 105 diamonds weighing 144.32 carat, excavated from Panna mines, fetched Rs 1.87 crore during the three-day auction that concluded on September 23, diamond officer Ravi Patel said.

The proceeds from the auction of raw diamonds would be given to the miners who found them after deducting government royalty and taxes at 11.5%, which is Rs 21.51 lakh in this auction, he said.

He said a 14-carat diamond, the biggest diamond available for auction, went unsold and will be put in the next auction after three-months.

“This 14-carat diamond could not reach the auction price… At times it happens due to clarity of colour. It is a big size gem but quality degraded due to black spots. We want it to fetch good rates,” he said.

A carat is a unit of weight used to measure the size of a gemstone such as a diamond. The per-carat rate of a gemstone depends on its quality.

A 12.08-carat diamond fetched the highest price ₹Rs 42.40 lakh at the auction. It was sold at the rate of ₹3.51 lakh per carat, the officer had said earlier.

However, an 8.22-carat diamond mined earlier this month attracted the highest price per carat in the auction attended by traders from various parts of India.

“This 8.22-carat diamond was sold ₹Rs 4.51 lakh per carat fetching ₹37.07 lakh,” he said.

A group of four labourers had found this 8.22-carat diamond from leased land in the Hirapur Tapariyan area of the Panna district and deposited it in the Panna’s Diamond Office on September 13.

Patel said a 6.47-carat diamond was sold at ₹15.36 lakh at the rate of ₹2.37 lakh per carat. Similarly, a 5.05-carat diamond was sold at ₹11.66 lakh.

During this three-day auction, a total of 155 gemstones weighing 206.68 carats were put up for sale.

Courtesy: The Hindu