The state occupies a unique position as it contribute over 30 per cent of the total value of building stones produced in the country. Over 90 per cent of the country's marble reserves are located in Rajasthan with Makrana known to be the oldest white stone (marble) producing area in the country. Nearly 1,100 marble porcessing units employing gangsaws imported from Italy, have come up in Rajasthan. No less than 50 automatic tiling plants have also been set up. The state's marble processing capacity has gone up to 1,100 million sq ft per year.

Apart from marble, the state is rich in sandstone deposits, Kotah stone (flaggy limestone), slate, granite etc. Granite reserves areestimated to be of the order of 1,128 million cu metres out of the country's total 3,000 million cu metres. The quality of granite produced in the state is not as good as that found in Karnataka and other states.

As a first step to make the building stones known to world buyers, the government has decided to organise `India Stonetech 2000' in Jaipur next February. The government has asked RIICO and C-DOS (Centre for Development of Stones) to hold the India Stonetech 2000, the first of its kind in northern India, says GS Sandhu, managing director of RIICO.

Sandhu is the brain behind the proposed Stonetech 2000 in the Pink City as he feels that once dimensional stones of Rajasthan get a global exposure, the industry would get a big boost. The immediate objective is to bring the industry in the organised sector to boost returns and increase the earning potential of workers.

The government has also decided to give a host of concessions to the building stone industry to attract investments. In thisconnection, the government is attempting to remove infrastructural bottlenecks by connecting mines with a good network of roads and providing the other necessary facilities, says Sandhu.

The Stonetech 2000 is being organised with the full involvement of CII (Confederation of Indian Industry) and about 5,000 participants are expected to attend the same. Once the industry gets the needed boost, there would be no stopping.

In the export market the Rajasthan dimensional stones have a good market as the variety available in the state is found no where else in the country. From the cost angle as well the global market offers a good return.Depending on the quality, marble (processed) is available at a price range of Rs 10 sq ft to Rs 300 sq ft. If the cost of mining is reduced by using the latest mining techniques, the benefit will certainly go to the buyers. Studies made in this connection reveal that the cost could be reduced drastically if the mining methods could be improved.

For this reason, the stategovernment is putting a lot of thrust on the use of machinery for mining, says Sandhu. Loans on easy terms are being made available in the state for the purpose.

In a major policy decision the government said that mining will also be treated at par with other industry with the same concessions available as are being given to the industrial sector.

Rajasthan has prepared to a strong case for the reduction of excise duty on the building stones which presently varies from Rs 30 per sq meter to Rs. 40 per sq meter. The excise duty was hiked last year and as a result the industry had suffered a lot, admits Sandhu. ``We are trying out best to bring pressure on the Centre for reducing the excise duty'', he says.In this connection a letter has also been sent to the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, suggesting some alternatives in the excise duty structure. It is suggested that a differential tax structure may be imposed on marble slabs and tiles so as to link the duty to the selling price of the product. Theexcise duty should vary between Rs 5 per sq meter to Rs 15 per sq meter depending on the sale price. The idea is that the low cost marble becomes cheaper.

Alternatively, a uniform rate of Rs 10 per sq meter be levied across the board on the marble slabs and tiles. The incidence of excise duty is too high at present and is detrimental to the growth of the industry. The need is also to stimulate the demand for marble products as the industry is undergoing a severe recessionary trend with a large number of small units facing closure. The industry no doubt provides high value addition to the mineral wealth of Rajasthan. The Indian marble production has risen to around four million tonnes from 1.96 million tonnes during 1991-92.

India, it is worth noting, is the highest producer of dimensional stones in the world and during 1997-98 it produced 17 million tonnes (about 27 per cent) of the world's production (62 million tonnes). The domestic consumption during the year was placed at around Rs 5,000 crore.Thecountry also achieved the highest export growth rate of 25 per cent during 1997-98 and it ranked third in the world stone exports. During the year 2.1 million tonnes of dimensional stones were exported valued at $301 million. The other major exporting countries are Italy, China, Spain etc. In Rajasthan the western region has abundant reserves of building and dimensional stones.

Rajasthan's share in the exports has been rising -- it rose from a mere two per cent in 1991-92 to over 10 per cent during 1997-98. A big potential exists in this field and it is now hoped that with the added thrust available from the government the picture will change.