THE CROWN JEWELS OF INDIA

Time for India to reclaim its wealth'

May 12, 2007 14:43 IST

India should seek the return of the Koh-I-Noor diamond from Britain, the jewel gifted to Queen Victoria by nine-year-old Duleep Singh, the last Sikh ruler of the Punjab, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan has said.

Chauhan, who had a glimpse of the Koh-I-Noor at the Tower of London on Friday evening, said nearly half of the precious stones and jewels kept at the Tower were from India and now 'time had come for India' to reclaim its wealth.

Chauhan, who was replying to a reception accorded in his honour by Overseas Friends of Bharatiya Janata Party (UK), extended an open invitation to the UK Investors to participate in the two-day Global Investors Meet in Bhopal on October 26 and 27.

He said NRI steel baron Lakshmi Mittal had a meeting with him on Friday and evinced interest to set up a couple of projects in the state. The details of the projects were yet to be worked out, he said.

Angad Paul, CEO of the Caparo Group, which has already set up couple of Automobile Stampings Plants in Indore, had a separate meeting with the chief minister earlier in the day.

The Koh-I-Noor was mined in India in around 1100 AD and probably originated from Golconda in the southern region of Andhra Pradesh. The shape and size of a small hen's egg, the diamond attained a sinister mystique.

It is probably not entirely coincidental that the Koh-I-Noor is reserved for use in crowns used by a female member of the British royal family.