Updated August 1st 2024, 18:28 IST
Panna: Our lives have changed forever, an excited Raju Gond said after finding a 19.22-carat diamond in the mines of Panna in Madhya Pradesh.
Raju Gond, a labourer, had been digging pits for more than a decade looking for diamonds. After finding one, experts have told him that he is set to get Rs 80 lakh at a government auction.
“Our lives have changed forever,” he said.
Gond added that he will repay a debt of Rs 5 lakh and investment towards the education of his children, construction of a home, land purchase, and a tractor will be made.
His family includes his parents, wife, seven children, and the families of his younger brother and sister.
Gond said that he will first pay off his family’s Rs 5-lakh loan, and has plans on distributing the proceeds from the auction among his family members. He hopes to build his own home and get some farmland with the leftover money.
“I will keep looking for diamonds even after this,” Gond said.
Panna Known For Diamond Deposits
Madhya Pradesh is known for the only industrial-scale diamond mine in India which is the Majhgawan mines near the town of Panna in the Bundelkhand area. The mine has a capacity to produce almost 84,000 carats per year and is owned by the central National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC).
Published August 1st 2024, 18:28 IST