M-sand boards new terrain

From dry to wet technology, the manufactured sand segment is gearing for the next level of growth. Rising demand from the RMC and retails segment will create a conducive environment for m-sand, and propel its growth in India

From dry to wet technology, the manufactured sand segment is gearing for the next level of growth. Rising demand from the RMC and retails segment will create a conducive environment for m-sand, and propel its growth in India

The Indian aggregate industry is the second largest industry in the world. According to estimates, the aggregate market in India currently stands at 4000 million tons per year amounting to $20 billion industry and is growing at CAGR of 8.5 percent. Currently the country has more than 16,000 crusher plants and 1200 plants are added every year. (Typically, one plant needs investment of Rs 4-5 crore and additional facilities like air classification or washing facility). Besides, the industry employs more than 5,00,000 lakh workforces (direct and indirect).

Growth drivers:

As per a report published by Expert Market Research, “The India sand market attained a volume of 833 million tons in 2020. The market for sand in India will grow at a CAGR of 6-7 percent between 2021-2026.”

Rapid urbanization and increased demand for construction materials including sand as a crucial ingredient is driving the aggregator segment growth. While lack of availability of river sand triggered the evolution of m-sand in India, fast paced infrastructure projects propelled it further it further.

Interestingly, the retail market is also shifting towards m-sand. Many construction players in the real market are opting for manufactured sand for plaster. The enhanced quality provides finer grades that doesn’t pose a challenge when used for plastering.

Impediments

Though industry stakeholders are supportive of regulatory measures, they also concede that the regulations should be industry friendly. Key industry players feel that regulations by different state governments are impacting the industry in a major way. According to a top player in the segment, “Stricter regulations are important to protect the environment. But the lack of quality checks provide manufacturers of low-quality products an easy access to the market. This hampers the industry in a bigger way.”

Joseph Jacob, Director, POABS GROUP, said, “In 2012, Kerala implemented a law that made it mandatory for quarries to obtain environmental clearance certificate. While the law was enforced to plug the damage caused to the western ghats of the state, it has drastically reduced the number of quarries and the crusher plants in the state.”

Although mining is an integral part of a crushing plant, the compliance laws for mining and the crusher plants are different.

However, the stricter implementation of ban of rivers and use for construction is opening up the market for manufactured sand. As per the available reports, the use of m-sand in RMC has increased by 50 percent in the recent past. The industry is hopeful to meet the rising demand as the capacities are being built in.

Also, manufactured sand or engineered sand (m-sand), which is still categorized under the unorganized sector, often attracts attention for mostly wrong reasons (non-compliance with the regulatory parameters, illegal mining, sand mafia). However, with the entry of larger corporates foraying into the segment, the bad-boy image is gradually changing.

Globally, large cement companies are expanding their presence in the RMC and manufactured sand segments. However, the uptake in India is slow as the sector hasn’t evolved yet. Presence of large players, better technology, meeting compliances will drastically change the industry segment.

South India was the first state in India to impose restriction on use of river sand. Other states especially—the western and the north central regions have imposed either a partial or complete ban on river sand usage. East and north-east India is yet to impose any restrictions on the usage of sand.

Challenges faced by the m-sand manufacturers inside the unit:

First is the fine power generated during manufacturing. As per Indian standards only 10 percent of 75 microns can be removed. However, depending on the type of the stone and the location of production, the percentage can go up to fifteen to thirty percent. Washing is the best solution but, it consumes a lot of water.

Secondly, slurry handling is a big pain point. But the gradation needs to be improved between 300-600 micron and line 1.18 (which decides the strength of the concrete). “Washing will not help here. This requires a dry engineering dry technology,” informs an industry expert. The produce will have higher percentage of coarser portion. The dry technology helps reduce it to required levels. Plus, dry technology enhances the shape of the sand particle.

Overall, the advantages of m-sand outnumber all inhibitions.

Advantages of m-sand

According to industry experts m-sand is:

• Well graded and in the required proportion
• Does not contain any organic and soluble compound that affects the setting time and properties of cement, thus the required strength of concrete can be maintained
• Does not have the presence of impurities such as clay, dust and silt coatings; increases water requirement in case river sand impairs the bond between cement paste and aggregate. This increases the quality and durability of concrete

Additionally, M-sand is obtained from specific hard rock by using state- of-the-art international technology. This retains the required property of the sand.

Plus, it is cubical in shape and is manufactured by using technology like high carbon steel followed by the rock process which is synonymous with natural processes in river sand information. Also, modern and imported machines are used to produce m-sand to ensure the required grading zone for the sand.

Opportunities:

A big push for the m-sand demand comes from the construction industry which is looking at alternates for natural or river sand to protect the environment and arrest the depletion of natural resources. For e.g., crusher byproducts are now being recycled instead of being used for landfills. Secondly, strict banks imposed by the state governments on river sand usage for construction purposes accelerated demand for m-sand. Hence, the rise of manufactured sand plants is expected to propel the market for sand in India.

RMC, that started evolving in the year 2000—the same year as m-sand, was scoping solutions to improve the quality of concrete. This led to increased demand for high quality sand and m-sand manufacturers. These manufacturers in turn, were forced to adapt new technologies to supply the fine grade material to capture the new demand. Infrastructure projects— metros, flyovers, airports, rail projects require concrete that offers durability, strength and speed, also propelled the demand for m-sand.

Said, Prashant Jha, Chief Ready-Mix Business, Nuvoco Vistas Corp, “While some customers still believe that natural sand and river sand are better than m-sand, the market is gradually shifting toward m-sand. This is definitely a sustainable solution for the scarcity of natural sand in big cities such as Mumbai. General awareness that RMC is a high-grade concrete, a cost-effective product with the benefit of retaining the quality and ease of execution, among consumers.”

Technology

There are two types of m- sand available in the market— the coarse sand and the fine sand. The former is used in concrete and the latter for plastering. Technology has improved to the level that fine materials of both segments are available.

Sanjay Nikam, CEO and Principal Business Consultant with Suru09 Business Services, said, “Globally, Japan is the first country to develop technology in the engineered sand segment because of the shortage of river sand. In Europe and US, there is no restriction on river sand dredging. But the problem exists in Asia and other continents. China is the second country to move in the same direction because of the shortfall faced. Now that India also faces challenges with river sand, the country has adopted Japanese technology to manufacture m- sand.”

Anil Banchhor, Managing Director & CEO, RDC Concrete said, “The industry has moved from three stage crushers to four-stage crushers and that has improved the quality of the manufactured sand available. In lieu of compliance standards by the Indian Bureau of Standards, many m-sand manufacturers have installed classification system in plants that can remove the particles present in the sand above the permissible limit. Additionally, water is being used in the washing facility to improve the quality of the sand. The modern technology allows one to replace river sand with manufactured sand.”

The way forward

A new segment where manufactured sand is being used is in water applications. Many water companies are increasingly dependent on engineered sand. This certainly will give a huge thrust to the m-sand segment.

Increased investments, new crusher plants not only in tier-1 cities but also in tier-2 and tier-3 cities with modern equipment are mushrooming. This is a clear indication of the anticipated growth spreading beyond the metro or large cities in India. Also, as the construction segment gains momentum with more infrastructure projects being fast tracked across the country, the m-sand industry expects a 15-20 percent growth going forward.

Renjini Liza Varghese