Jaipur: The stone industry in Rajasthan made notable strides in reducing reliance on imported cutting and polishing machinery from China, Italy and Turkey over the past decade. Indigenous manufacturing units in Ajmer, Udaipur and Jaipur emerged as key suppliers, enabling the sector to strengthen its domestic base and lower costs.Industry experts, however, cautioned that the country remains dependent on select high-end technologies due to limited investment in research and development.
At the Stonemart exhibition, exhibitor R Sudarsan said, “India did well in the past five to seven years to manufacture machines used in the stone sector for cutting and polishing. But the country is still reliant on China, Turkey and others for high-efficiency and high-precision technology. The major reason is that the Indian industry does not invest adequately in research and development activities. That’s the difference,” he said.Rakesh Gupta, a dimensional stone exporter from Jaipur, highlighted the transformation brought by technology. “Technology penetration improved significantly in the stone sector in past one decade. With use of technology, the industry was able to reduce waste. Secondly, the quality of products and the production time also improved,” Gupta said.Rajasthan, home to India’s largest reserves of marble, granite and sandstone, was one of the states that invested in machine manufacturing. The local manufacturers developed mid-range machinery suited to domestic needs, helping small and medium enterprises cut costs and improve efficiency.Exhibitors said that without sustained R&D, India risks lagging in next-generation technologies such as automated precision cutting, AI-enabled defect detection and energy-efficient polishing systems. These remain dominated by foreign suppliers, curbing India’s competitiveness in global markets.
