Indian PM Modi inaugurates Surat Diamond Bourse, world’s largest office building, in Gujarat

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday (Dec 17) inaugurated the world’s largest office building, Surat Diamond Bourse, in Gujarat.

The Surat Diamond Bourse (SDB) building is located at Khajod village near Gujarat’s Surat city. It is the world’s largest and modern centre for international diamond and jewellery business and will cater as the global centre for trading both rough and polished diamonds as well as jewellery.

The bourse comprises the state-of-the-art ‘Customs Clearance House’ for import and export, a jewellery mall for retail jewellery business and a facility for international banking and safe vaults.

The whole complex is built on a plot of 35.54 acres, and costs around Rs 35 billion. The building spans 67 lakh square feet of floor space and has the capacity to house nearly 4,500 diamond trading offices.

‘Symbol of new India's strength, resolve’

Addressing the public after the inauguration, Modi said, "Today the people of Surat and the traders and businessmen here are getting two more gifts. Today itself the new terminal of Surat Airport has been inaugurated and the second big thing that has happened is that now Surat Airport has got the status of International Airport. I congratulate the people of Surat and the people of Gujarat for this wonderful terminal and international airport."

"The Surat Diamond Bourse exhibits the capabilities of Indian designers, Indian designers, Indian materials and Indian concepts. This building is the symbol of New India's new strength and new resolve," he added.

India to be among top three world economies

Confident in returning to power for the third time, Modi said that India will be among the top three economies in the next 25 years.

"Surat Diamond Bourse is an example of Modi's guarantee...I have given this guarantee to the nation that India will be among the top three economies in the world in my third term. The government has fixed the target for the coming 25 years..."

The megastructure has nine ground towers plus 15 floors, with office spaces ranging from 300 sqft to 1 lakh sqft. The nine rectangular towers are connected by a central spine. The building has a platinum ranking from the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC).

The building, which is part of the Diamond Research and Mercantile (DREAM) City, was recognised by the Guinness World Records as the largest office building in the world in August this year.

Several diamond traders, including those based in Mumbai earlier, have already taken possession of their offices, which were allotted by the management after auction, SDB’s media convener Dinesh Navadiya said in a statement recently. The SDB is part of the Diamond Research and Mercantile (DREAM) City.

This is a developing story. More updates will be added soon