About 70% of country’s trade likely to operate from this centralised complex from Jan.
Ten months after inauguration, yet still to get going, the Bharat Diamond Bourse (BDB) is set to see new life with the planned shifting of India’s top jewellers, effective January 1 next year. About 100 leading jewellers, contributing nearly 70 per cent of India’s diamond trade, are planning to commence business from the new location after Diwali.
Earlier, they had planned to shift before Diwali, following the recent bomb blast near Opera House in South Mumbai where a majority of the business is currently being carried out from the three historic buildings of Prasad Chambers, Panchratna and Shreeji Building. They delayed due to the absence of ancillary services, including banks, diamond couriering and restaurants.
The facility was inaugurated in October 2010 after being proposed in 1992 for an expenditure of Rs 600 crore. Owing to the delay, the construction cost went over Rs 1,100 crore. Spread over 20 acres, with a built-up area of two million sq ft, BDB has eight towers of nine storeys each, housing 2,500 offices.
According to Anoop Mehta, president, over 100 leading jewellers across the country have finalised the plan to shift offices to BDB, to avoid hiccups in daily Customs work. The Customs department has already shifted to the new venue from the traditional Lamington Road venue in south Mumbai and importers of rough diamonds and exporters of finished jewellery have been dealing with it since early this year (without shifting themselves, as the ancillary services such as banks, diamond couriering, restaurants, etc, weren’t developed). Between 55 and 70 per cent of India’s diamond sales would start routing through BDB in the new year, Mehta added.
“IndusInd Bank is shortly inaugurating its branch in the BDB complex. We are also in talks with leading public sector banks. including State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda and Bank of India. Hopefully, they will also open their branch soon in the complex,” said Mehta.
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Diamond couriering, of rough pieces from importers to cutting and polishing centres and from there to jewellery making units, a major ancillary service, is yet to start from BDB. Till it does, traders would not be keen to shift, said Satish chandra Shah, former vice-president.
According to the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council, jewellery exports in 2010-11 surged to $43,139 million as against $29,358 million in the previous year.