Ammon News - On a recent winter morning in Panna, a diamond mining region in central India, two childhood friends made a discovery that they think could change their lives forever.

Satish Khatik and Sajid Mohammed stumbled upon a large, glistening rock on a plot of land they had leased just weeks earlier, according to BBC India.

When they took the stone to the city's official diamond evaluator, they learnt they had found a 15.34-carat gem-quality diamond - one of the finest varieties of natural diamonds that exist.

“The estimated market price of the stone is around five to six million rupees [$55,000 - $66,000] and it will be auctioned soon,” Anupam Singh, the diamond evaluator, told BBC Hindi.

The government holds quarterly auctions, drawing buyers from across India and abroad to bid for the diamonds.

“Estimated prices depend on the dollar rate and benchmarks set by the Rapaport report,” Singh said. Rapaport is widely regarded as a leading authority on independent diamond and jewelry market analysis.

Khatik and Mohammed say they are over the moon. “We can now get our sisters married,” they said.

Khatik, 24, who runs a meat shop and Mohammed, 23 who sells fruits, come from poor backgrounds and are the youngest sons in their families.

For generations, their families have been trying their luck at finding diamonds, which is a common quest among the district's residents.

Panna, which is in Madhya Pradesh state, is among India's least developed districts - its residents face poverty, water scarcity and unemployment.

While most mines are run by the federal government, state authorities lease small plots to locals each year at nominal rates. With few job opportunities in the city, residents hope for a prized find to improve their fortunes - but most come up empty-handed.

Mohammed said his father and grandfather had dug through these plots for decades but discovered nothing more that “dust and slivers of quartz.”

His father Nafees said that the “gods have finally rewarded their hard work and patience.”

They leased a plot in search of diamonds partly out of desperation, as their meagre incomes could not keep pace with rising household costs - let alone pay for a wedding, Mohammed told the BBC.

Asharq Al-Awsat