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Why importing granite from India is a rising trend among stone buyers in the US and UK?
Are you an architect looking to give an astonishing visual appeal to a commercial project using stone? Or, are you a construction contractor looking to import high-quality granite at competitive rates? No matter what your objective is, Indian granite suppliers are known to provide great quality stone products to almost every corner of the world. But, what makes importing granite from India so prevalent. Get to know it right here.
After the devastating impact of COVID-19 last year, the demand for Indian granite is again finding its feet back. Rajasthan appears on the top of the list of granite exporters in India and is followed by Telangana and Andhra Pradesh sitting jointly at this place. The quarried granite is transformed into blocks and exported to UK, US, and other countries. The US and Europe are the major importers as construction is in full swing there.
For quite a few years now, India has relished being a global leader in granite exports in different parts of the world. Admired for lending matchless style and elegance to the architecture, the shiny, charming Indian granite is a lot more than just a multi-million dollar foreign exchange earner. Indian granite has an established track record of being immensely used stone material in the building of various timeless memorials across the globe – Bruce Lee Memorial and Vietnam War Memorial in Washington DC, Atomic Bomb Victims Memorial in Japan are some of the masterpieces made from Indian granite.
According to a report prepared by the Centre for Development of Stones (CDOS) in Jaipur, India, over 31 million tons of stone are produced in India each year. The institute also states that India is the third-largest exporter of stone in the world, preceded by China and Italy.
The demand for high-quality natural stone has been augmented recurrently every year in North America by almost 15% or even more. The demand for marble and granite tiles has been shooting up annually by roughly 6% to 15% and has amplified generally by approximately 70% since 1997. This is a clear sign that the USA’s import of granite stone has been increasing year by year. And this is where India emerges as one of the largest granite suppliers that provide stones in standard as well as custom sizes like rough stone blocks, gangsaw slabs, cutter slabs, countertops, and others.
In the imports of finished granite between 2019–2020, the USA witnessed a reduction in value by -7.48% and in volume by -7.04%. The below-given table shows the monthly changes (%) in imports.
Source – Australian Bureau of Statistics, stonenews
As per Eurostat data, the imports of UK marble and granite products from the European Union are low.
Why Indian granite is considered superior to granite sources from other countries?
The granites from India are found to be quite sturdy in nature and exhibit a superb polish. The quality is also a lot better than Chinese and Brazilian counterparts. Due to the abundant presence of quarries in various parts of the country, India has a wide variety of granites that vary greatly in terms of surface texture, color, and design pattern.
The Indian granite is primarily divided into categories on the basis of the origin of the granite stone – North Indian Granite and South Indian Granite
A majority of granite quarries are located in the states of Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Karnataka (Bangalore Mysore), Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Orissa, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh.
There are also large deposits of granite in the states of West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, and Jharkhand. There are few new regions found in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand too. Only the Chhattisgarh has come across fresh granite quarries. In general, India is an epicenter of different colors and patterns for granite buyers.
Some of the leading granite colors and their respective variants are given below:
- Black Granite – Black Galaxy, Absolute Black
- Red Granite – New Imperial Red, Smoka Red
- Blue Granite – Himalayan Blue, Imperial Blue
- Brown Granite – Indian Aurora Brown, Desert Brown, Classic Paradiso
- White Granite – Kashmir White, Titanium White, Crystal White
- Yellow Granite – Ghiblee, Astoria
- Green Granite – Forest Green, Kuppam Green
- Pink Granite – Imperial Pink, Chima Pink
Among the different types of granite available today, Indian granite is the most preferred around the world due to its superb hardness and certainly, its visual properties. In recent times, the use of advanced technology and tools for granite processing and polishing has resulted in much-improved granite slabs and tiles. This makes Indian granite a winning choice in the global stone market.
This deadly combination of functionality and beauty makes granite one of the most widely chosen stones for a range of applications such as countertops, floors, staircases, paving, monuments, cladding, and several others.
Popular Indian granite dimensions:
- Countertops and vanity tops – Custom sizes
- Cutter slabs – 180 x 60 cm up in 2 & 3 cm
- Gangsaw slabs – 260 x 160 cm up in 2 & 3 cm
- Tiles – 30×30, 30×60, 60×60 cm
At present, Indian is considered the most preferred destination for buyers looking to buy high-quality granite at the most competitive rates. The Indian granite suppliers provide the best quality granite stone in diverse sizes to match the distinctive need of any type and scale of the construction project The major markets for Indian granite are Germany, Europe, Turkey, UAE, Australia, and others.
Be it a residential construction project or a commercial one, the demand for high-quality natural stone is always on the rise. This is where Indian granite leaves a mark by providing the finest quality stone for almost all types of architectural needs today’s architects may come across.