Granite industry must look East: Kamal Nath

Bangalore, Feb 8 (UNI) The Indian Granite industry, facing stiff competition from China, Brazil and Italy in the export market, should look at the emerging economies in East Asia to maintain healthy growth, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Kamal Nath said today.

Addressing the silver jubilee function of All India Granites and Stone Association (AIGSA) here, he said instead of depending on the US and European markets, the granite industry should look at East, where the market was emerging.

He said high export and domestic growth achieved by the granite industry will help the country to take bigger strides in the future.

''Granite industry is one of the few rural-based industries that provides employment to people in villages. The government through certain schemes will help the industry to gain better market access and provide a level-playing field,'' he said.

Union Secretary for Mines J P Singh said the Centre was considering to extend the granite quarrying for longer periods to help the granite industry.

Value addition should be the mantra for the industry and it should make more efforts to acquire better processing techniques, he added.

UNI RS AK DB2015