Few visionaries of the stone industry, taking
note of the potential of the Natural stone industry of India domestically and
internationally joined together and formed the association way back in 1983 to
promote the Natural Stones of India. The
Association was named as All India Granites and Stone Association (AIGSA) to
give it the all India status. From 1-4-2014 the Association was renamed as
Federation of Indian Granite and Stone Industry (FIGSI)
The sole object of the Association was to
promote stones of India across the globe and also to resolve many domestic
problems faced by the mining industry. It was not an easy task for them because
the mining industry which was an unorganised sector faced many problems and
challenges which was becoming the hurdles for the growth of the mining
industry.
Since, the last 32 years FIGSI has grown from
strength to strength with the co-operation and support of its members. During
the past 32 years, FIGSI has achieved many land marks.
FIGSI is having membership from all the
sectors of the Natural Stone Industry of India whether it is Granite, Marble,
Slate, Sandstone Quartzite etc, Machinery, Consumable, Tools and all the
segments of the Industry directly and indirectly connected with the Natural Stone
Industry from all over India. Today the Federation is having around 900
members.
Initially, the industry was exporting rough
dimensional blocks to Japan, Italy and other countries. Many of the countries in the world were not
knowing that Granite is available in India since the Indian blocks were
processed in Italy and re- exported as Italian products.
Now the Indian Industry has acquired the
state of the Art of Technology which is at par with other countries and our
products are well accepted all over the world and are being used in many big
projects. India is exporting to more
than 90 countries across the globe. Granite
processing machinery is also being manufactured in India today and is working
satisfactorily.
Our Federation works as a bridge between the
Industry and the state and Central Government and the Federation has been
recognised by the Government and Federation has been nominated in various
committees constituted by the Central Government. We are members of the Granite
Development Council, Planning Commission, National Board of MSME etc.
Due to constant effort of FIGSI, there has been huge development in
mining and processing sector. Today we are exporting more than 70% of production
as finished goods after value addition.
2.
GCDR – 1999
FIGSI has
played a significant role in framing the Granite Conservation and Development
Rules (GCDR-1999) by Ministry of Mines Government of India for promotion of
Granite industry in the country. Each state was following their own rules and FIGSI
felt it necessary to bring uniform rules in the country. GCDR 1999 was the
first step to bring the uniform policy for the granite industry in the country. It is unfortunate that in spite of FIGSI effort
to bring uniform policy many states are still not following the GCDR rules, due
to which the growth of the granite industry has been slow. We are very happy to mention here that the
united Andhra Pradesh was the first state to implement the GCDR for the benefit
of the Granite Industry which other governments are yet to follow.
3.
Andhra
Pradesh / Telengana
On this occasion
we would like to mention that the policies followed by Both AP and Telengana
are very encouraging to the Granite Industry and in view of the support and encouragement of the Government, United A.P
stands in number one position in Granite production and exports. Some of the popular
varieties of Granites like black galaxy, Tan Brown etc is having its own brand
name in the world market.
4.
R & D
FIGSI is pursuing the following programmes for the development of the
STONE industry in the country,
a) Establishment of training institute for to train persons for the stone
industry.
b) Artisans park and Artisans training programme to give a boost to stone
artifacts.
c) Testing laboratory for all kind of stones.
d) Research Centre to develop, new techniques.
e) Exhibition and trade centre for market development.
f) World Stone Museum.
Keeping this in view it was felt by the
members that name of the Association has
to be changed to Federation to get
better recognition nationally and internationally for the stone industry of
India. Accordingly All India Granites
and Stone Association has been renamed as Federation of Indian Granite and
Stone Industry from 1st April 2014.
As a first step to achieve the above
objective of the Federation, we are happy to inform that already the federation
has purchased about 32 acres of land near Krishnagiri in Tamil Nadu close to
Bangalore which is the granite hub of south India and is having easy
connectivity to all the four southern Indian states. We are hopeful that with the help and
assistance of the State Governments and the co-operation of the Industry, we
can achieve the objectives of the Federation in the near future.
5.
STONA fairs:
AIGSA conducted the 1st STONA
International fair way back in 1987, which was the first ever stone fair held
in entire Asia. At that time our Indian export
was INR 50 crores. After 11 STONA fairs,
we are proud to inform that our export has crossed INR 12,000 crores due to the
continued efforts of AIGSA/FIGSI.
Today, the STONA fair has been recognised all
over the world. STONA has become a brand
name in the world and it has become a very powerful platform for the Indian Industry
to market the Indian stone internationally.
Now it has reached 4th Position in the International Stone
fairs after Verona, Izmir, Xiamen.
6.
STONA 2016 :
From 1987 to 2014, FIGSI has conducted 11
International Stone Fairs in Bangalore and has now announced the 12th
International granite and Stone Fair – STONA 2016 at Bangalore International
Exhibition Centre (BIEC), Bangalore from 3rd to 6th
February 2016. Already we are having
confirmation of Country Pavilion from Turkey, China and Italy.
The fair is being held at Bangalore
International Exhibition Center (BIEC) which is having all the facilities and
amenities of the International standard. Bangalore is well connected by Road, Rail and
Air from All over the world.
Booking of the stalls has commenced from 1st
week of April 2015 and we are happy to inform that in a short period of 3
months, our booking has crossed 92%.
When majority of the exhibitions all over the world are showing a declining
trend, STONA booking shows the confidence the Indian and the overseas exhibitors
have on STONA Fair.
7.
Shilp Gram: (social
commitment of Federation)
It is the commitment of FIGSI from the
inception for the promotion of the rural artisans and in this direction from
the first stona fair we are inviting the artisans from all over India and
providing with free stall, local stay, food, cost of travelling and
transportation of materials from their place to Bangalore etc. We are happy to mention that many of the
artisans who got exposure in STONA fairs have got national recognition and also
have become exporters themselves. Even
in STONA 2016 we are inviting about 50 artisans from all over India to show
their skill to the international community. They will be displaying their artistic skills
before the Visitors.
8.
Present Scenario of Stone Industry of India
Our journey was not smooth all the way and we
are still facing many obstacles to promote the stone industry in the world. FIGSI
is playing a very important role of co-ordinating the industry with Central and
State Government for formation of the policy of the industry.
Due to our efforts India has become the 7th
largest exporter after China, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, Greece and Brazil. We have
the largest resources of granite and natural stones. If the right policies are
introduced we can become the top exporter with the support of the government.
9.
Indian Stone Deposits:
India is the treasure trove of the stone
deposit in the world. India, probably,
has the largest reserves of granites and natural stones in the world. India
accounts for 20 per cent of the total world reserves in granites, marbles, sand
stone, slate and others (approximately 1,690 million cubic meters). There are
over 160 shades of granite colours. Unfortunately, majority of the reserves are
located in the forests and restricted hilly areas. Today, Karnataka, Andhra
Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan are the top producers of
granite and marble. Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, M.P, Orissa and Gujarat are the
emerging states. Because of various restrictions, such as, poor state rules and
environmental concerns, we are unable to increase the production.
Indian Stone Industry is spread throughout
the length and breadth of the country. The journey of the processing industry
started with circular saw machines and from there on due to constant up gradation in the
technology to Gangsaw and the latest one of multi wire saw. Latest resin lines,
polishing lines etc are being used which has upgraded our quality to the
International standard. Even in the
mining sector, now diamond wires are being used dispensing the traditional
blasting method which is environmental friendly. There are more than 20000
units working all over India with a huge investment of more than 50,000 crores
and providing employment to more than 15 lakh persons.
The
Granite Quarrying and Stone processing
Industry is located in Kanakapura, Kollegal, Chamarajanagar,
Nanjangudu, Mysore, Hassan, Ilakal, Sira,
etc In Karnataka, Hosur, Salem, Krishnagiri, Madurai, Shivakashi,
Chennai, Pondicherry etc, in Tamilnadu, Chittoor, Hyderabad, Warangal, Karimnagar,
Khamam, Ongole, Vizag etc in Andhra Pradesh, Parts of Orissa, Gujarat and
Jalore, Jaipur, Kishnagarh, Rajasmand, Abu Road, Jaislmer etc in
Rajasthan. Granite Deposits are also found
in many of parts of West Bengal, UP and Jharkhand
10.
Hurdles faced by the Industry;-Policy paralysis.
The stone industry is facing many obstacles.
The present policy has affected the growth of the industry which has become a
major hurdle for the development of stone industry. Our industry has not been
recognised by Central and state Government and is not finding any place in both
central and state budget. There are various packages and assistance announced
to other industries like textile and sugar industry. But there is no reference of stone industry
in any government policies. Stone Industry still comes under the minor minerals
in spite of huge investment and employment in the field of processing and
mining industry. We have been treated on par with sand mining, stone crushing
and building stones used for construction of road making. Even the banking sector is not extending the
financial support or loan facility to the Granite Industry which is hindering
the growth of the Industry.
11.
Shortage of Raw material:
Over a period of time, there is boom in the
construction activity across the globe and stone has found place in various
applications. In view of this the
processing industry developed throughout the length and breadth of the country.
The mining sector could not keep up the pace with the development of the
processing sector. There is a huge shortage of the raw material
in the country due to which the prices of the rough blocks is increasing day by
day. No new leases were granted and industry
is facing many obstacles due to restrictions imposed in reserve forest, eco
sensitive Zone, Western Ghats and Aravali regions., since these areas are not allowed for quarrying activity. All these factors have caused shortage of raw
material for the processing sector.
If Govt. of India allow the import of granite blocks with the similar
policies of marble imports, the industry will develop in a big way and generate
more employment and export stone products with value additions and get valuable
foreign exchange and will also meet the parameters of policies of make in
India.
No efforts have been made either by central or state government to
provide the relief to the processing industry in the last decade.
Now it is high time for the Industry to get proper recognition and
relief from both the union Government and State Government.
Sri. R. Sekar, President and Sri. Ishwinder Singh, Chairman, STONA 2016 Fair along with the entire team of FIGSI is here to invite the stone Industry from Andhra Pradesh and Telengana to participate in STONA 2016 to make it a grand success.
With this we invite you
once again to participate and visit STONA 2016 in Bengaluru from 3rd
to 6th Feb 2016.
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