De Beers Planning $200-$300 Million India Mining Investment

De Beers is planning to invest $200-$300 million in the coming years in diamond mining in India via a new joint venture with Hindustan Diamond Company Pvt Ltd (HDC), according to India’s Business Standard.

The investment will be made by De Beers Centenary Mauritius Ltd, which already owns half of HDC.

HDC Chairman and Managing Director V Madhavan Nair said, “We are planning a new joint venture with De Beers. The memorandum of understanding is likely to be signed by the month-end and the JV will be operationalized in 2-3 months”.

The new venture with have a total equity of Rs 100 crore ($21.8 million) and will be registered in Mumbai. De Beers would own 74 percent of the venture and HDC would own the rest.

The newspaper cited sources saying De Beers was already surveying areas in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh and Tamil Nadu for potential diamond mines and there were good prospects for possible mines.

India has only one operational diamond mine at Panna in Madhya Pradesh, owned by the National Mineral Development Corporation.

HDC, the existing joint venture held equally by De Beers and the government, is the largest supplier of rough diamonds to small and medium manufacturers and exporters of polished diamonds in India with a turnover of Rs 1,028 crore ($224.16 million) in 2003-04.