Surat diamond co to hold online auction of roughs

In what could help in easing shortage of rough diamonds to a certain extent, a Surat-based diamond company plans to hold an online auction of roughs in June.

Arjav Diamonds, a part of Blue Star Diamonds, one of the largest diamond companies in the world, plans to sell rough diamonds through online auction to diamond cutting firms in Surat and Mumbai. Blue Star is a DTC sightholder and sources roughs from various miners.

The company will hold the auction online on www.arjavbids.com, the first-of-its-kind initiative in the country.

"Rough diamonds worth Rs100 crore will be put up for the online auction. The auction is exclusively for diamond units in Surat and Mumbai. Companies wanting to take part in the auction have to register with us," said Ashit Mehta, chairman, Blue Star Diamonds.

KP certified diamonds, sourced from different miners and countries, and priced from US $ 1000 - $ 20,000 per carat will be on sale during the auction. Companies wanting to take part in the auction have to register themselves from May 30 to June 7. The can physically examine the roughs from June 1 to 7, while the auction will take place on June 9.

"We are expecting over 200 small, medium and large-sized diamond companies to take part in the auction, and have received confirmation from many of them," Mehta said. Mehta said that holding similar online auctions in the future was also an option, but it would depend on the response to the first auction.