In attempt to woo merchants and brokers, civic body to run bus services to and from Surat Diamond Bourse | Ahmedabad News
To woo traders and brokers to move their businesses to the Surat Diamond Bourse (SDB), the Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) said on Friday that it will run bus services from the diamond colonies of Varachha and Katargam to Khajod.
The announcement comes ahead of SDB’s plan to open a large number of offices from Sunday, marking Ashaadi Beej. The distance between the bourse at Khajod and Varachha and Katargam is around 15 km.
In a meeting with civic officials on Friday, a committee of the SDB – headed by diamond merchant and BJP MP Govind Dholakia – proposed to start SMC-run Sitilink buses exclusively for diamond traders and brokers. All expenses to run the buses will be borne by the SDB, it added.
The move assumes significance as poor connectivity was one of the deterrents behind shifting business to the swanky SDB despite its formal inauguration by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last December.
Chaital Prajapati, Assistant Manager (Operations) of SMC Sitilink services, said: “There was a request from the SDB to start bus services. The proposal was accepted. We are deploying two buses each to Katargam and Varachha. The SDB will bear the fare and other expenses and we (Sitilink) will just be the service providers.”
In a video message, SDB vice-chairman Lalji Patel on Friday informed the people about the free bus service.
Later, speaking to The Indian Express, Patel said, “To mark Ashadhi Beej, over 250 diamond traders and brokers from Mumbai and Surat will open their offices in SDB on Sunday. Interior work at another 500-odd offices at the SDB is in progress and these will also open soon.”
“We are hopeful that over 1,000 offices will open in the SDB by Diwali. We are making all efforts to make the SDB fully functional and also offering attractive schemes to shopowners,” he added.
“The SMC’s Sitilink buses will provide free services to merchants and brokers daily from the diamond market areas such as Godhani Circle in Katargam and Varachha Minibazaar. The first bus will start at 8.15 am from both Katargam and Varachha. The last bus from both the locations will leave at 6.45 pm. Buses will be available at an interval of one-and-a-half hours,” Patel said, adding that the buses will not stop mid-way.
There are over 4,000 shops in SDB – the world’s largest commercial complex. The aim behind building the SDB was to turn Surat into a trading hub for diamonds. However, has it received lukewarm response from within the diamond industry, both in Mumbai and Surat.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
First uploaded on: 05-07-2024 at 19:17 IST
