Seven workers in Panna, a region known for diamonds in central India, have found a rare diamond weighing 17.96 carats.

The initial value of the stone is estimated at at least five million Indian rupees, around 88,800 Bosnian marks, writes the BBC .

The diamond was found on a plot of land in Sarokha village, which the workers had rented about two years ago.

Officials have described the stone as a "gemstone quality" diamond, and it is expected to be sold at the quarterly diamond auction in the first half of October.

The workers had been working for two years without finding any valuable stones. After a break of about a year, they returned to check the old plot after heavy rainfall and found the diamond right on the surface of the ground.

"We had been working there for two years, but we had no luck. When we returned after the rains, we found it on the surface," said Akhilesh Pal, one of the workers who participated in the discovery.

Panna is one of India's most famous diamond mining areas, but residents face poverty, unemployment and a lack of economic opportunities. For this reason, many of them turn to diamond prospecting in the hope of changing their lives.

In this case, the seven workers will directly benefit from the sale of the diamond. For three of them, the proceeds could mean a special opportunity: they have shown that they were so poor that they could not afford to get married. Now they hope to secure money for marriage, a family and a new start in life. /Telegraph/

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