Bharat Diamond Bourse (BDB) is the world's largest

diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Diamond is tasteless, odourless, strong, brittle solid, colourless in pure form, a poor conductor of e ...

bourse (exchange) and is located in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. Spread over a plot, the complex is home to some 2,500 small and large diamond traders in addition to the Custom House, banks and other service providers who cater to the gems and jewelry trade. The complex contains 26 towers each having nine floors. The total constructed area is , with two basements of additional . The facilities at BDB comprise offices of diamond traders, four walk-in vaults, 24,500 safe deposit boxes, a trading floor, strong rooms, lockers and customs clearance facilities with all the modern facilities required to carry on day-to-day business. It is located in the G Block of the

Bandra Kurla Complex The Bandra Kurla Complex is the central business district of the city of Mumbai, the financial capital of India. It is a prominent upscale hub and is considered to be one of the most expensive neighbourhoods in the world. According t ...

, between the

suburbs of

Bandra Bandra ( æːɳɖɾa is a coastal suburb located in Mumbai, the largest city of the Konkan division in Maharashtra, India. The area is located to the immediate north of the River Mithi, which separates Bandra from the Mumbai City district. It ...

and

Kurla Kurla (Pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, uɾlaː is a suburb of East Mumbai, India. It is the headquarters of the Kurla taluka of Mumbai Suburban district. The neighbourhood is named after the eponymous Bombay East Indians, East Indian vill ...

. It has an inflow of some 45,000–50,000 people daily. BDB handles 98% of diamond exports from India. However the competition arose due to the inauguration of the SDB in Surat.

History

In 1984, the project was started by a group of Mumbai-based diamond traders.

Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) is a body of the Government of Maharashtra that is responsible for preparation oRegional Plan for MMRand the infrastructure development of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. The MMRDA w ...

gave on an 80 years lease. The project initially involved the public sector Minerals and Metals Trading Corporation. It withdrew from the project later and BDB took it over from there. Then it was restarted in 1992. But disputes between the BDB committee, its architects and contractors and payment defaults by members during the 1995–99 property slump put the project on hold in 1998. It was restarted in 2001. The construction cost of an estimated was collected from members.

India's diamond industry

India's diamond industry, which is estimated to grow by an average 10 to 15 percent each year in the next five years, accounts for 70–75 percent of total diamond exports in the world and employs 850,000 people, making it the largest cutting hub by value and number of employees. Last year, the country's import of rough diamonds rose 24.5 percent to 149.8 million carats against a year earlier, and export of cut and polished diamonds witnessed a surge of 28.3 percent to 59.9 million carats. The old market is located at Opera House and Prasad Chambers (Charni Road). The cutting and polishing of diamonds occurs mainly in the city of

Surat Surat (Gujarati Language, Gujarati: ) is a city in the western Indian States and territories of India, state of Gujarat. The word Surat directly translates to ''face'' in Urdu, Gujarati language, Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of t ...

, which is also known as 'Diamond City'. The cutting and polishing units in Surat vary from large firms employing several thousands of diamond cutting and polishing workers to very small informal enterprises having a few workers. The larger Cutting and Polishing of Diamonds (CPD) units have relatively better work and employment conditions and even provide for elaborate benefits. Most of the CPD units are owned by Kathiawadis, who were originally farmers from Northern Gujarat region. The whole diamond cutting and polishing industry is largely community oriented, where most of the owners and workers are Kathiawadis. In the recession of 2008, while many of the small and medium-sized CPD units were closed down with lay-off of workers, there were still some big CPD enterprises who managed to retain their workforce. This was primarily because of the paternal approach of owners, by which they consider workers as extended family members

History

India's diamond industry

See also

References

Further reading