PANNA: A man operating a small scale brick kiln business has found a 26.11 carat diamond in a shallow mine in Madhya Pradesh's Panna district, an official said on Tuesday.
The precious stone may fetch up to Rs 1.20 crore in auction, Panna's diamond officer Ravi Patel said.
Sushil Shukla, a resident of Kishoreganj in Panna town, and his partners found the diamond on Monday in the mine located near Krishna Kalyanpur area, the official said.
The gem will be put up for auction in a couple of days and the proceeds would be given to the miner after the deduction of government royalty and taxes, he said.
Shukla, who runs a small scale brick kiln business on a rented land, told reporters that he and his family were also involved in the diamond mining work for the last 20 years, but this was the first time that he unearthed such a big gem.
The man said he had taken the shallow mine, where the diamond was found, on lease along with five partners.
Expressing hope that the gem would fetch more than Rs 1.2 crore, Shukla said, "I will use the money that I get after the diamond auction in setting up a business."
Panna district, located 380 km from the state capital Bhopal, has reserves estimated to be containing diamonds worth 12 lakh carats, according to officials.