JAIPUR: Riding on new mines, reduced cost of processing, durability and variety, granite is giving marble a run for its money. In the past 3-4 years, the industry has drawn large number of investors who have set up more than 100 units investing around Rs 500-600 crore in the Kishangarh.
Ashok Dhoot, vice-chairman of Centre for Development of Stones, an arm of the industry department, said the whole economics of price and quality has turned favourable for the granite as compared to marble.
“If you drive down from Kishangarh on the Makrana Road, for up to 25-30 km you can see over 100 units buzzing on both sides of the road. On average, each unit requires at least Rs 5 crore investment and there are also units where people have invested up to Rs 50-100 crore. Rough estimates suggest the investments made there can easily cross Rs 500 crore to Rs 600 crore. Interestingly, many have replaced their marble units with granite ones,” said Dhoot.
While the price of granite stones from south India, considered somewhat better, starts from Rs 150 per sq ft onwards, in Rajasthan the range begins from Rs 50, which is almost the cost of marble.
By Srikanta Tripathy
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
