Indore | June 06, 2017: The lack of an adequate supply of crushed sandstone and its inferior quality will likely delay infrastructure projects. With the ban on sand mining in the state, the demand for crushed sand stone has risen manifold amid its limited supply.

Developers said, ever since the ban on sand mining, developers' dependency on sandstone has increased, but its availability is limited.

Arun Nair, a developer said, "The availability of crushed sandstone is poor in the region. What's more is the quality of the material is not proper. Our dependency on sandstone has increased ever since the mining ban as several real estate projects are underway."

Builders said existing infrastructure projects are likely to be delayed as the supply of crushed standstone is not adequate. They have to place orders as per their requirement about a week in advance.

Crushed sandstone is mainly used in infrastructure projects while sand is required for constructing buildings and residences, industry experts said.

"Supply is likely to be an issue for another three to four months. We expect the situation to improve given the increased number of crushed sand stone manufacturing units in the region," Nair said.

Pradeep Khanna, mining officer said, "In the past few days we have seen a surge in the number of inquiries to increased the capacities of existing plants and setting up new facilities all together."

There are already 7 to 8 crushed sandstone facilities in Indore region, according to the mining department. Khanna said new facilities will be added in four to six months in the region.

Developers said a lot of under construction projects residential and commercial projects in the state will be hit due to a sudden jump in sand prices as they have more than doubled from Rs 40 per cubic feet to Rs 100.

(Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/)