A 42.59-carat rough diamond discovered in October 2018 in the Panna district of Madhya Pradesh has reportedly been sold at auction for Rs. 2.55 crore or Rs. 6 lakh a carat, according to news reports.

The diamond was reportedly owned by two labourers, Motilal and Raghuveer Prajapati, who had leased the small plot of land in the Krishna Kalyanpur region where it was found, the auction was conducted through the diamond office set up by the district administration as per official guidelines. The diamond was purchased by a jeweller from the city of Jhansi, after some intense bidding, the news report stated.

The 42.59-carat stone is said to be the second biggest discovered in the area which houses a number of what are locally described as ‘shallow pit mines’, being only marginally smaller than the 44.55-carat diamond dug up over five decades ago in 1961.

During the auction 160 stones with a combined weight of 203-carats were on display. Panna is estimated to have diamond reserves of 12 lakh carats.