Mumbai Bourse Set For Big Move
February 03, 04
Following 12 years and much controversy, Mumbai’s booming diamond market looks all set to change location from its traditional home in the congested Opera House in the south of the city to the swanky new diamond bourse at the Bandra-Kurla complex.
“The buildings are ready and we hope to start giving possession of the offices from April onwards,” said Anup Mehta, president of the Bharat Diamond Bourse.
At present, the diamond hub is mainly concentrated in Panchratna and Prasad Chambers at the Opera House. Real estate analysts are already predicting that the astronomical property prices these two buildings command today could crash once the business shifts to the Bandra-Kurla complex.
Over the years, those in the diamond trade have offered phenomenal prices to buy office space in the two buildings.
At the new diamond bourse, more than 1,500 workers are busily putting the finishing touches to the nine buildings that have been constructed in the sprawling 20-acre complex for the past several months, with the cost of the project paid for by bourse members.
The new exchange will house 2,500 offices and include individual traders, exporters, brokers and others connected with the diamond trade. All the big names in the diamond business like Rosy Blue Diamond Company, B. Arunkumar, B.Vijaykumar, Mahindra Brothers and Blue Star will be moving to the new complex.
“The entire business will get more organised. There will be more space, better security apparatus, a custom house, banks, facilities for trading and insurance inside the complex,” Mr Mehta said. Work on the bourse came to a standstill in the mid-1990s following infighting among the members and allegations of misappropriation of funds.
“It is true that a lot of them want to shift to these places mainly to save on travelling time from south Mumbai,” said Sanjay Kothari, chairman of the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council. Diamond traders mainly reside at Napean Sea Road and Walkeshwar.
Some of the biggest residential property transactions in south Mumbai involve jewelers who are the driving force behind the demand for residential flats in this region.