Childhood friends find '$55,000 diamond' in India

On a recent winter morning in central India's Panna, a diamond mining region, two childhood friends made a discovery that they think could change their lives forever.

Satish Khatik and Sajid Mohammed stumbled upon a large, glistening rock on a plot of land they had leased just weeks earlier.

When they took the stone to the city's official diamond evaluator, they learnt they had found a 15.34-carat gem-quality diamond - one of the finest varieties of natural diamonds that exist.

"The estimated market price of the stone is around five to six million rupees [$55,000 - $66,000; £41,000 - £49,000] and it will be auctioned soon," Anupam Singh, the diamond evaluator, told BBC Hindi.

The government holds quarterly auctions, drawing buyers from across India and abroad to bid for the diamonds.

"Estimated prices depend on the dollar rate and benchmarks set by the Rapaport report," Mr Singh said. Rapaport is widely regarded as a leading authority on independent diamond and jewellery market analysis.

Mr Khatik and Mr Mohammed say they are over the moon. "We can now get our sisters married," they said.

Mr Khatik, 24, who runs a meat shop and Mr Mohammed, 23 who sells fruits, come from poor backgrounds and are the youngest sons in their families.

For generations, their families have been trying their luck finding diamonds, which is a common quest among the district's residents.

Panna, which lies in Madhya Pradesh state, is among India's most backward districts - its residents face poverty, water scarcity, and unemployment.

But it's also home to most of India's diamond reserves and remains a prime destination for diamond hunters.

India's diamond reserves are relatively limited compared with the world's major producers, but they are historically significant.

While most mines are run by the federal government, state authorities lease small plots to locals each year at nominal rates. With few job opportunities in the city, residents hope for a prized find to improve their fortunes - but most come up empty-handed.

Mr Mohammed says that his father and grandfather had dug through these plots for decades but discovered nothing more that "dust and slivers of quartz".

His father Nafees says that the "gods have finally rewarded their hard work and patience".

They leased a plot in search of diamonds partly out of desperation, as their meagre incomes could not keep pace with rising household costs - let alone pay for a wedding, Mr Mohammed told the BBC.

Searching for diamonds is no easy task but the two friends would sift through mounds of dirt after work in the evenings, or whenever they got time off from their day jobs.

Like most locals, they searched for diamonds by hand - digging pits, hauling out soil and rock, washing it through sieves and carefully sifting through thousands of tiny stones once dried.

Ravi Patel, Panna's district mining officer, said the two friends were incredibly lucky.

"They had leased out a plot on 19 November. It's their luck that they found a diamond of gem quality within a few weeks," he said.

Though they have yet to collect the money, Mr Khatik and Mr Mohammed say they are hopeful.

"We are not thinking of buying land, expanding our businesses or moving to a bigger city; not yet. For now, we are focused on getting our sisters married," they said.