Surat: For diamantaires in Surat and Mumbai , getting bank loans will get tougher now with yet another diamond company in Antwerp, owned by a Gujarati diamantaire , is inching closure to filing for bankruptcy after the Belgium court recently rejected its reorganization plan.Diamantaire Kaushik Mehta’s Eurostar Diamond Traders, owes an estimated Rs 3,500 crore ($500 million) to leading lenders including ABN Amro, Standard Chartered, KBC Bank, State Bank of India among many others. Sometime ago, the company had also lost its sightholder status with De Beers owing to its financial problems. Industry sources said that Eurostar owns an office in the Bharat Diamond Bourse (BDB) in Mumbai and is a member of the gems and jewellery export promotion council (GJEPC) too. The company has close business relations in Surat and Mumbai and most of its diamond stocks were manufactured in Surat.Last month, the company filed an appeal with the Antwerp court requesting protection from creditors. The court, however, rejected the request questioning some of its financial data presented before the court. The Antwerp Corporate court will decide on the case early April, where it may force the company to file for bankruptcy.Earlier, the company had admitted in November-2018 that its diamond stocks were worth only $25 million, despite valuing them at $148 million in September-2018. The company lost the trust of its most important creditors and owes them huge sums of money.GJEPC chairman, Pramod Kumar Agarwal said that the company has a primary membership with GJEPC, but they are yet to receive official bankruptcy proceeding details from the government of India. If the Antwerp court will order attachment of properties owned by the company, then it will be conveyed to us through the Indian government.

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