Decade on, gems-jewellery park at Ichhapore has no takers

SURAT: It was in 2004, the Gujarat Hira Bourse (GHB) and leading diamantaires in Surat had urged the state government to allot government land in Ichhapore for developing gems and jewellery park. The then chief minister Narendra Modi had acted promptly in favour of the diamantaires and allotted one million square metres of land in Ichhapore.
But even after a decade, the gems and jewellery park is yet to become operational.
About 350 big and small diamond companies into jewellery manufacturing and diamond polishing - from Mumbai and Surat - had bought plots at rates prevailing at that time to set up manufacturing units in the special economic zone (SEZ). Announced in 2004, the park was expected to become operational in three to four years. However, it ran into one delay after another. The GHB has so far spent close to Rs 200 crore on the project. The basic infrastructure at the park is now in place, and seven units are currently under construction.
Two years ago, the GHB had applied for de-notification of SEZ status of the park after the Central government withdrew the tax benefits and other incentives.
"The members at jewellery park in Ichhapore had purchased land at Rs 3,500 per square metre in 2004. Now the land price has shot up to Rs 7,500 to Rs 8,000 per square metre and only seven units are likely to come up. We fear same might happen with the proposed diamond bourse project in Surat," said an office-bearer of Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) on condition of anonymity.
However, the GHB office-bearers are committed to develop the jewellery park in the next couple of years.
Praveen Nanavaty, joint secretary, GHB told TOI, "About 70 per cent of the gems and jewellery park was reserved as an SEZ. Had the then UPA government not withdrawn the tax incentives and other benefits in the SEZ, the park would have been operational three years ago. Now, we are waiting for the park to be denotified, so that the space could be made available for non-export oriented units as well."
Asked if the jewellery park land could be utilized for developing diamond bourse instead of demanding more land from the government, Nanavaty said, "The park is reserved for setting up only jewellery manufacturing units. The diamond bourse being planned in the city is exclusively for the trading of rough and polished diamonds by the traders. However, we can't mix two things together at a same place."
After a decade, the diamantaires have once again knocked the doors of the state government demanding land. This time, the diamantaires want to develop a world-class diamond bourse, parallel to Bharat Diamond Bourse (BDB) in Mumbai. Last week, chief minister Anandiben Patel accepted the proposal of allotting over 2 lakh square metres of government land, which is close to the airport, during her maiden visit to the Diamond City after assuming the top post.
Nevertheless, questions are being raised as to whether the diamantaires would utilize the government land for the very purpose of developing world-class diamond bourse or the members of the trade would lose interest in the long run, as they did with the gems and jewellery park in Ichhapore.