Indian stake in diamond trade with De Beers
Friday, 10 December 2004, 20:30 IST
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JOHANNESBURG: The Indian government has acquired a 13 percent stake in the diamond exploration and mining operations of international giant De Beers in India through a strategic memorandum of understanding (MoU). In terms of the agreement signed at De Beers corporate headquarters here between De Beers India (DBI) and Hindustan Diamond Company (HDC), HDC will take a 26 percent stake in DBI, which was incorporated primarily for the purposes of exploration and mining of diamonds in India. HDC is a 50:50 joint venture between the government of India and De Beers. The agreement is expected to give further impetus to existing diamond exploration in India, and more specifically to an existing partnership in diamond cutting and polishing. The Indian delegation included V. Madhavan Nair, chairman and managing director of HDC, and Rajiv Bhandari, chairman and managing director of DBI. Representing the De Beers Group was its chairman, Nicky Oppenheimer and the Group Exploration Director, Bill McKechnie. Oppenheimer said the agreement would cement his company's commitment to the Indian diamond industry. "The agreement between DBI and HDC brings together the elements from two leading diamond industry nations in a way that fosters the values diamonds represent in both the exploration and diamond cutting worlds," Oppenheimer said. McKechnie, who has led the drive to find new diamond fields in India, reiterated De Beers' commitment to the discovery of new world class diamond mines in India. DBI was first granted reconnaissance permits in India at the end of 2000 and active exploration commenced in early 2001. To date this exploration work has led to the discovery of more than 20 new kimberlite deposits in four Indian states, which are currently undergoing appraisal for diamond content. DBI's exploration investment in India to date has been approximately $10m with planned expenditure in 2005 budgeted at $7.7m. Highlighting the interest shown by the Indian government in diamond exploration and mining, Nair said India had a million jobs in the diamond cutting and polishing industry, while the rest of the world had only 300,000. De Beers employs almost 24,000 people worldwide and has 20 operations in Africa.
Source: IANS
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