More than 160 diamonds that were found in famed mines in Madhya Pradesh's Panna district in the recent past would go under the hammer later this month, a senior official said Tuesday.
The estimated cost of the raw diamonds, weighing around 203 carats, is around Rs 2.22 crore.
Carat is a unit of weight for precious stones and pearls, equivalent to 200 milligrams. It is also a measure of the purity of gold.
The diamonds to be auctioned include a 42.59 carat gem, believed to be second biggest, that was found by a labourer in October this year.
"Overall, 161 diamonds weighing 203.26 carats would be auctioned in a process beginning December 28. Auctioning would continue, barring government holidays, till all of them are sold out", said Panna district collector Manoj Khatri.
He said the estimated cost of the diamonds found in various mines is Rs 2.22 crore.
"People participating in auction could examine the diamonds from 9 am to 11 am everyday", the collector said.
A labourer, Motilal Prajapati had stumbled upon a 42.59-carat diamond while digging a leased mine at Krishna Kalyanpur village near the district headquarters.
Also part of the upcoming auction would be a 12.58 carat diamond which was found by a local farmer while tilling land at Sarkoha village in the district in September.
The district is estimated to have reserves of 12 lakh carats of diamond.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
