C Mahendra Exports (CME) inaugurated its manufacturing unit, in Surat at the hands of Gary Ralfe, outgoing De Beers managing director on January 26, 2006. Present on the occasion were DTC executive sales director Desmond Cavanagh, and De Beers India managing director Rajiv Bandari.

Built at an estimated US$ 8 million, the 100,000 sq ft polishing facility will house a computerised Transaction Tracking System, to enable close monitoring of processes and productivity. At full capacity, the factory will employ 2,000 people and produce 20,000 carats of polished diamonds (above 0.25 carats) per month. The facility has also been equipped with the Sarin�s Dia Scan, Dia Vision, Dia Planner, Dia Marker and fully automatic polishing wheels (Dialit).

�This fully functional state-of-the-art diamond cutting and polishing facility will increase the annual exports of C Mahendra Exports by 30%. This is our next step forward into the future and will make the CM Group event stronger and more competitive on both the manufacturing and marketing fronts,� said Mahendra Shah of CME. Designed keeping environmental concerns in mind , the company follows industry standards, in particular the �Best Practice Principles� and quality standards specified by the Diamond Trading Company.