Surat's Diamond Bourse To Become World's Largest Office Building, Surpassing Pentagon

The newly built International Diamond Bourse in Gujarat's Surat has taken the title of the world's largest office building, surpassing the Pentagon, according to CNN.

Surat is renowned as the gem capital of the world, where over 90 percent of the world's diamonds are cut.

The newly-constructed Surat Diamond Bourse (SDB) will serve as a comprehensive hub for over 65,000 diamond professionals, including cutters, polishers, and traders.

Spread across 35 acres of land, the 15-storey Surat Diamond Bourse consists of nine interconnected rectangular structures. These structures are connected through a central spine.

The sprawling complex encompasses over 7.1 million square feet of floor space.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will officially inaugurate the building in November of this year, after the Bourse having undergone four years of construction.

According to the SDB website, the complex spans 20 lakh square feet and includes a recreational zone and parking area.

This organization is a not-for-profit entity promoted by SDB Diamond Bourse. It is registered under section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013 and was established to promote the Diamond Bourse in Surat, Gujarat.

In an interview with CNN, Mahesh Gadhavi, the CEO of the project, stated that the new building complex will eliminate the need for thousands of people to travel to Mumbai by train on a daily basis for business purposes.

The design of the building was created by the Indian architecture firm Morphogenesis, who won an international design competition.

According to Gadhavi, the decision to exceed the size of the Pentagon was not based on the competition brief, but rather on the demand for the project. This suggests that the project was not limited by any specific requirements, allowing it to be scaled up to meet the needs of the market.

Notably, all the offices in the building were purchased by diamond companies prior to its construction.

Gadhavi stressed that this indicates that there was already a significant level of interest and investment in the project from the diamond industry, further contributing to its size and scope.