To increase import-export from Surat, the Association of Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) have demanded that the bourse should be shifted to the city from Sachin, 15 kms away. The diamond industry is located in the Varachha, Mahidarpura and Katargam areas of the city.

Bhadiyadra said very few industrialists now import rough diamonds through the Sachin bourse owing to its distance. ``If the same facility is made available near diamond industries, many more industrialists can avail of the opportunity'', he said.

The state government and the Association have identified two sites for shifting the bourse to Varachha, for which the government has promised to allocate 1000 sq metres of land. But the Association also wants around 10 lakh sq metres of land for providing housing facilities to the workers.

``The government has assured that enough land will be provided at a reasonable price,'' GJEPC regional convener Chandrakant Sanghvi told reporters.

According to Sanghvi, the Association is negotiating with the Gujarat Housing Board, which has a huge reserved plot at Kosad, 3 kms from Katargam. Association secretary Nanubhai Patel said that while the Association wants to provide houses to workers at ``affordable'' prices, the housing board's constructions are expensive. ``So we have requested the board to provide us land'', he said.

``We are planning to prepare houses with one room and kitchen and two rooms and kitchen facilities at an estimated prices of Rs 240 per sq feet'', he added.

Chief minister Keshubhai Patel will preside over the felicitation function at be held at Indoor stadium at 2.30 p.m. on Saturday. Union Textile Minister Kashiram Rana will be the guest of honour. Prabodh Mehta, Deputy Chairman, GJEPC, and Manharbhai Bhanushali, past president of GJEPC, will also remain present at the function.