Why Yogi govt thinks artificial sand is the future of construction

The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh is coming up with a new policy to promote alternatives to river sand used in construction work and curb illegal sand-mining. The policy will focus on the promotion of manufactured sand, or M-sand, which is produced by crushing stones.

M-sand is made by crushing large stones into fine particles, which are then cleaned and finely graded. It is widely used as a substitute for river sand in construction.

State government sources said M-sand is being promoted to keep up with the demand for sand at construction sites and preventing depletion of river sand by way of illegal mining. The long-term goal is to develop M-sand as an MSME sector.

According to the chief minister's office, officials from the Directorate of Geology and Mining recently held detailed discussions with stakeholders regarding the drafting of the M-sand policy. The directorate showed a presentation on the proposed policy and received inputs from the stakeholders.

State mining department director Roshan Jacob said the UP government had developed the draft M-sand policy by studying similar policies in other states. The rising price of sand nationwide has led to a surge in demand for M-sand even as river sand was hardly a future option given its limited availability.

Jacob highlighted that the availability of sand in rivers had significantly diminished and there were numerous restrictions on its mining. To address the issue, the UP government aimed to learn from the experiences of other states like Karnataka and Maharashtra, where M-sand use ranged from 50 per cent to 90 per cent. These states, Jacob said, had successfully implemented policies that promote M-sand as a substitute to river sand. "M-sand is better in quality than normal sand. Further, M-sand produced in UP will have to adhere to the specifications set by the Bureau of Indian Standards."

Vipin Kumar Jain, additional director in the mining department, said the government was keen on the M-sand industry acquiring MSME status. "With MSME status, the M-sand industry will be eligible for various benefits provided under the MSME framework. There will also be a provision for power subsidy in the first five years," said Jain.

The government's plans include making M-sand mandatory in 25 per cent of government contracts, to be increased to 50 per cent later. Jain said the stakeholders at the meeting, while strongly favouring MSME status for M-sand, suggested that subsidy be provided for converting existing stone crusher plants into M-sand plants, besides banning use of river sand in some places on a trial basis.

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