Battle of the Bourses: BDB Plans 1,000 New Offices
April 02, 24
(IDEX Online) - The Bharat Diamond Bourse (BDB) is planning a major expansion - as its new rival, the Surat Diamond Bourse (SDB), struggles to fill its thousands of empty offices.
BDB, which opened at the Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai in 2012 is preparing for a 1,000-office expansion, according to the Construction Week website.
News of the move comes as the troubled SDB, 175 miles away, appoints Govind Dholakia as its third chairman since the start of the year.
SDB, officially the world's largest office building ((7.1m sq. ft of floor space), was opened last December by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but remains largely empty and has so far managed to lure diamond companies away from BDB.
Kiran Gems, the world's largest rough diamond manufacturer, did relocate to SDB but moved most staff back to Mumbai within weeks.
BDB currently occupies 8.1 hectares, in 26 nine-story towers, and accommodates 2,500 diamond traders.
SDB, built at a cost of almost $400m, has over 4,500 offices, but has been described as a huge ghost building.
Modi promised many more jobs at the official opening. "Surat diamond industry has been giving employment to around 8 lakh (800,000) people, and with the coming up of new diamond bourse, 1.5 lakh (150,000) more of them will get jobs," he said.
Pic shows BDB.