MP govt has begun process to set up 'diamond park' in Panna: CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan
Bhopal, Sep 25: The Madhya Pradesh government has initiated the process of setting up a diamond cutting and polishing park in the state's Panna district, which has a vast reserve of gems, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said.
"Panna is located in Madhya Pradesh but work of cutting polishing of diamonds is carried out in other places. So, we have started the process of setting up a diamond park here," Chouhan said while addressing a programme at a Polytechnic College Ground here on Friday.
Panna district, located over 380 km from Bhopal, has reserves estimated to be containing diamonds totalling 12 lakh carats, according to officials.
Meanwhile, 105 diamonds weighing 144.32 carat, excavated from Panna mines, fetched Rs 1.87 crore during the three-day auction that concluded on Thursday, diamond officer Ravi Patel said.
The proceeds from the auction of raw diamonds would be given to the miners who found them after deducting government royalty and taxes at 11.5 per cent, which is Rs 21.51 lakh in this auction, he said.
He said a 14-carat diamond, the biggest diamond available for auction, went unsold and will be put in the next auction after three-months.
"This 14-carat diamond could not reach the auction price At times it happens due to clarity of colour. It is a big size gem but quality degraded due to black spots. We want it to fetch good rates, he said.
A carat is a unit of weight used to measure the size of a gemstone such as a diamond. The per-carat rate of a gemstone depends on its quality.
A 12.08-carat diamond fetched the highest price of Rs 42.40 lakh at the auction. It was sold at the rate of Rs 3.51 lakh per carat, the officer had said earlier.
However, an 8.22-carat diamond mined earlier this month attracted the highest price per carat in the auction attended by traders from various parts of India.
"This 8.22-carat diamond was sold at Rs 4.51 lakh per carat fetching Rs 37.07 lakh," he said.
A group of four labourers had found this 8.22-carat diamond from leased land in the Hirapur Tapariyan area of the Panna district and deposited it in the Panna's Diamond Office on September 13.
Patel said a 6.47-carat diamond was sold at Rs 15.36 lakh at the rate of Rs 2.37 lakh per carat. Similarly, a 5.05-carat diamond was sold at Rs 11.66 lakh.
During this three-day auction, a total of 155 gemstones weighing 206.68 carats were put up for sale.
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Cristiano Ronaldo scores his 100th Saudi Pro League goal
Riyadh (AP): Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 100th Saudi Pro League goal as Al-Nassr beat Al-Shabab 4-2 to move five points clear at the top of the table.
The 41-year-old forward converted a Sadio Mané cross at the near post with 15 minutes remaining to record the 971st goal of his career on Thursday. It was also his 26th league goal of the season.
“Ronaldo is always dangerous going forward and we saw that again today,” Al-Nassr coach Jorge Jesus said.
João Félix, signed from Chelsea in July, scored three goals for the league leaders.
The win took Al-Nassr to 82 points from 32 games, five ahead of Al-Hilal, which has three matches, one more than Nassr, left to play. Al-Hilal meets Al-Kholood on Friday and faces Nassr on Tuesday in what could be a title decider against its Riyadh rival.
“Now we have a derby match against our rival, which is a difficult encounter,” Jesus said.
“We are fully aware of its importance, and we are dealing with it with complete focus as we know that small details could decide the result.”
Ronaldo, a five-time Ballon d'Or winner, has yet to secure a major trophy in Saudi Arabia since signing with Al-Nassr in December 2022.
