Online auction of rough diamonds to be held in Surat

In a novel initiative, rough diamonds worth Rs 100 crore, will be thrown open for bidders online in Surat by a local firm here, a company official said.

The diamonds shall be put on auction by Arjav Diamonds, an arm of Blue Star Diamond company, on its portal www.arjavbids.com on June 9.

The move is expected to provide small polishing units access to large sized roughs, which so far, have been accessible to the bigger players only.

"We have confirmed participation of over 200 diamond units for this auction. All the roughs on auction are Kimberley Process certified," Blue Star Diamonds chairman Asit Mehta said.

The bidders will have to register themselves first between May 30 and June 7, he said adding that they would get multiple attempts to bid for the roughs.

Bigger size stones ranging between 5 to 100 carats will be on auction and could be seen on June 7 by the registered bidders, a company official said.

The company, a sightholder of De Beers, diamond sales and distribution arm, Diamond Trading Company (DTC), said that all the transactions shall be executed in accordance to DTC rules and regulations.