10 Types of Natural Stone That Can Be Found in India and Their Uses

India is a leading commercial natural stone producing country in the world, delivering 27% of the total world’s production of stones from its quarries. India is exporting natural stone products worth of $300 million each year. Wikipedia portraits the Indian stone industry India, with an estimated resource of about 1,690 million cubic meter deposits worth exploring in the coming years.

If you are a well-aware buyer, you might be familiar with different types of stones in colloquial languages, but catching Geologic terms might tough for you. Therefore, I am not going to be much technical here. The followings are major types of natural stones quarrying and exporting from India.

1. Marble Stone in India

In early days marbles were a kind of luxury in the construction industry, but today it is easily available and affordable everywhere. Marbles are known for their variants in beautiful textures. Marble is a bit softer than granites but sturdy enough and durable as other commercially used natural rocks. Therefore, marbles are versatile and used in interior as well as exterior applications freely. Let’s main types of marbles available in India having export quality.

Makarana Marble

It is found in the Makarana area of Rajasthan in India. It is a kind of calcitic marble found in white & albeta varieties. The deposit is estimated to be 55 million tons and produce from 400+ quarries in that region. It has 98% calcium carbonate and only 2% of purities, which are giving it grayish or pinkish tints in grains and veins.It is greatly used in the construction of Taj Mahal, Victoria Memorial (Kolkata), and Dukhnivaran Sahib Gurdwara (Ludhiana). It is an excellent choice for flooring/paving indoor & outdoor areas of residential & commercial buildings like five-star hotels, religious places, government offices, and public places of high significance.

Rajnagar Marble

Rajnagar is the largest marble producing area with 2K units. It is a white variety of marbles, and due to the intrusion of quartz, it is alluring in appearance when polished well. Therefore, it is ideal for flooring, wall cladding, and paving in different areas of interior and exterior applications.

Andhi Marble

It is also known as pista or pistachio marble in the market and found nearby Pink City, Jaipur in Rajasthan. Green colored tremolite found against an off-white background gives a unique appearance on the surfaces.

Salumber Marble or Onyx Marble

Thick bands of green and pink hint beautify it further. It found around Salumber area of Rajasthan and resembling original Onyx marble from Pakistan.

AmbaJi White Marble

It competes Makarana marbles in many ways and highly used in the construction of sculptures besides in the construction of monuments and religious places. Commercial use also found in nearby areas of Gujarat.

Abu Black

It is a rare variety of black marble found in the world. It has great demand in temples and sculptures besides used in construction.

Katni Range

It is highly crystalline dolomite marble with beige color and hues. It is excellent for outdoor paving and interior flooring besides other usages.

Indian Green Marble

It found in Keshryaji near Udaipur of Rajasthan. Most exports of marble constitute green marbles in high percentage due to its beauty and other properties as an awesome variety of natural stones for interior and somewhat exterior applications across the globe.

2. Granite Stone in India

One-fourth of the world’s granite deposits found in India and as per 5006 surveys, it was 37,426 million cubic meters. The south peninsula of Indian territories has great mines of high-grade Granite stones. Granite countertops from India are popular in the USA, and its import constitutes nearly 25% of the share. Nearly, 200+ shades are available in Indian granite stones processed for export. India is the fifth-largest producer of granites.

3. Sandstone in India

India is a leading country for Sandstone mining and export. A big portion of sandstone found in Rajasthan and yield different colors and patterns in sandstone products. Indian sandstone is a sturdy and durable product. Therefore, it is ideal for exterior paving. Jodhpur sandstone highly used in front elevation decorations. Mint Fossils, Agra Red, Raj Green, and Teak and known varieties of sandstone sell in domestic as well as international markets.

4. Limestone in India

Yellow limestone of the Jaisalmer area of Rajasthan is famous as Kotastone in the industry. Kadappa limestone from South Indian Territory is another famous name in limestone catalog. About 1, 69,941 million tons of reserves found in India and Andhra Pradesh as well as Telangana cumulatively possess 32% of that reserves.Limestone is a favorite choice for exterior paving like patios, paths, and decks. Some high-quality limestone products also used in interior applications when marble is a pricy choice. Most cement processing units use as a prime ingredient, so its demand remains high forever. 75% of limestone products used by the cement industry and rests are in iron, steel, and construction industries

5. Slate Stone in India

Jak Black, Silver Shine, Silver grey, Panther, Deoli Green, Peacock, Peacock Multi, Kund Black, Kund Multi, and others are known a variety of slate stones in India. It is a bit fragile stone but a good choice for roofing and paving applications for external use.

6. Quartzite Stone in India

Quartzite has the highest content of silica, and Silver Shine, Peacock, Kund Black, and Deoli Green varieties are found in India. The rarest deposit has found in Himachal Pradesh of North India, and that variety is selling at a high price in the export market.

7. Basalt & Trap Stone in India

It is fine-grained and compact igneous rock yields dark gray to black dimensional stones with fractures and joins. It good for pavement applications but mostly used as aggregates for concrete and road metals. It also found in the construction of piers, retaining walls, rivers, and dams.

8. Travertine Stone in India

It is a kind of limestone found in hot mineral springs around India. Travertine is superior to marble in strength and durability thanks to its method of origin. It is sturdy and beautiful like marbles so highly used in an exterior application with different skid-free finishes. Swimming pool decks and patios are the major places to apply travertine stone.

9. Laterite Stone in India

It has a porous and spongy structure so highly used in the creation of artistic stone products like sculptures, water features, and similar outdoor construction applications and landscaping elements. Recently, the trend of using laterite in the production of stone veneers is increasing due to its decorative features and variations found in colors like brown, red, gray, and yellow hues found with different surface textures and patterns.

10. Gneiss Stone in India

It is characteristic of its unique texture. It has an alternate dark and light color bands without apparent foliation. It gives a distinct beauty to the stones used in commercial purposes like construction. It has fine coarse grains, and rocks have different colors such as pink, purple, light and dark gray, and other hues of these colors. Hard varieties are in exterior paving, wall cladding, and some interior applications.

Conclusion

Apart from metallic stones, various non-metallic stones also found in India such as Mica, Dolomites, Asbestos, Magnesite, Kyanite, Sillimanite, Gypsum, and diamonds. For dimension stone production, India is ranking on top when the export is focused. You can find the Indian natural stone products in the USA with World of Stones, Maryland.

A large distribution network enables World of Stones USA to reach all major places across the continent, including States and Canada. A big inventory of stones for outdoor applications available in unmatched styles, stone types, and colors, as well as textures in customized shapes and sizes. Just place your order online and see how we make a difference in the natural stone industry in the USA.