Diamond merchants refuse to move into BKC bourse

‘Jinx’ and inconvenience make a Rs900 crore complex lie idle. Dealers want old buildings razed

MUMBAI: Diamond merchant Ajay Shah, 60, has an office at Panchratna at Opera House for the last 30 years. But for long, as he made his way to office through crowded staircases and packed lifts, he dreamt of a diamond bourse with high-tech infrastructure and security.

“The security system at Panchratna is very basic, nothing like the ones you see at diamond centers in Malaysia and Belgium,” says Shah. Now merchants like Shah do have that option — the proposed Bharat Diamond Bourse at Bandra-Kurla complex in Bandra (east) — but many of them prefer to stay on at Panchratna. “The BKC building is jinxed. It may boast the best security, but I would never shift into that mess,” says Shah.

It’s not just Shah. The BKC bourse, a complex of seven buildings with hi-tech security that cost Rs 900 crore and is supposed to house the offices of over 2,500 merchants, but no one has moved in yet. At a time when big corporates and diplomatic missions covet the space that BKC offers, the diamond merchants are resolutely staying put in Panchratna.

Most complain that the structure, which the builders claim is as good as any in the world appears “inadequate.” The problems are many: water logging on the ground floor from the Mithi river, oddly-designed rooms and a change in design of the roof which prevents sunlight from coming in.

Naresh Mehta, secretary of Panchratna Society, says: “The BKC project was such an ambitious one. The plan suggested eight towers that would come together in the shape of a diamond.  Trying to create the diamond shape has left many of the offices cramped and irregularly-shaped. No merchant wants such a space.”  

Mehta says there have also been unnecessary delay in construction. “Had the project been ready by 1996, it would have been beneficial to shift. Now, 12 years later, there are new changes that will need to be accommodated.

Earlier, some merchants had thought about having two office - one at Panchratna and the other at BKC. But with the market not doing well, many of us will have to opt for only one office, and would therefore prefer to stay on at Panchratna.”

Spread over 18 lakh sq. feet, the complex also promised other facilities like strong rooms, lockers, customs clearance facilities, national and international banks, freight services and other modern amenities for day-to-day business.

The bourse also invited 18 banks to have their offices in the complex, along with a restaurant and a museum.

Diamond merchant Suneil Patel says: “There have been too many problems with the BKC bourse. The ground floor was supposed to serve as a market, where over 30, 000 merchants and traders could interact. Later I got to know that the bourse is situated so close to the Mithi river that water flows into the ground floor during the monsoons.”

Some are opposed to doing business from a building near a creek, believing it t be
inauspicious.

Architect Doshi, says the project has been massacred. “The roof was to be built to allow in natural light. The initial plan also had a convention centre, but these were later scrapped and the merchants lost interest in the project,” he says.

Real estate agents say the delay in merchants shifting has also caused the property rates at the bourse to fall. Property agent Astad Sheikh says: “Around February, when news of the bourse being ready for possession was doing the rounds, property rates were around 18,000 per sq ft. But now the prices are as low as Rs12, 000 to Rs13, 000 per sq ft. Clearly, there is a lack of demand for the bourse.”

The Bharat Diamond Association, however, appears unperturbed by the lack of interest. But BDB vice president Kausik Mehta disagrees. “There are a few members who have complaints,” he says.

“But by the end of the year, I presume around 70 per cent of the offices will be occupied.” With merchants refusing to shift, however, the trading of rough diamonds will continue to be concentrated in three congested buildings - Prasad Chambers,
Panchratna and Shreeji Building in South Mumbai’s Opera House area.
a_anita@dnaindia.net