Land Trouble For Surat Diamond Bourse

The proposed Surat Diamond Bourse (SDB) is facing the land hurdles as the farmers are opposed to the idea of taking Navsari Agriculture University's (NAU) land near Ghod Dod Road in Gujarat. The proposed SDB requires around 2 lakh sq mtrs of land.

Over 500 farmers and office-bearers of various co-operative units of Surat district gathered at Jahangirpura Cotton campus to discuss the issue recently, says a report. As per the reports, out of 112 hectares of NAU campus near Ghod Dod Road, nearly 20 hectares have already been reclaimed by Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) and handed over for private and public use. A private marble selling unit, petrol pump and Surat city Science Centre have been developed on the NAU land. The farmer leaders have said that around 10 lakh sq mtrs of farm land is lying unutilized for the last 10 years at Ichhapor Jewellery Park and the proposed SDB can be developed there.

When DiamondWorld spoke about the opposition to Dinesh Navadiya, President, Surat Diamond Association, he said, “Opposition to any new project is bound to happen but diamond industry is not worried about this. We will tackle this issue."

The members of the Surat Diamond Association had met Gujarat Chief Minister for the allotment of land for the proposed SDB. In June 2014, the CM had agreed to allot 2,00,000 sq mtrs of government land near the city’s airport. The CM had asked the district collector to complete the land allotment process, without delay, according to the reports. The proposed SDB is likely to have trading offices, auction house, custom house, strong rooms, hotel, bank, trading room etc.