In a positive development on 5 August, plans for constructing an Inland Container Depot (ICD) near Udaipur and and Air Cargo Complex at the Maharana Pratap Airport, Dabok were announced.

The announcement was made by Rajiv Arora, Chairman of the Rajasthan Small Industries Corporation Limited, at a seminar in Udaipur on 5 August. Rajiv Arora took the podium as the Chief Guest at the event, which was held at Hotel Lakend, Udaipur. 

Ashok Chandna

The seminar cum interactive meeting "Accelerating Economic Growth and Contribution of Natural Stone Sector"  was conducted by FIGSI (Federation of Indian Granite and Stone Industry) at Udaipur, inaugurated by Ashok Chandna, the Minister of State for Skill (Independent Charge), Sports & Youth Affairs (Independent Charge), Government of Rajasthan. This seminar included members from the stone and mining industry in Rajasthan along with officers of the government departments to deliberate various issues related to the inductry and also discuss teh growth of this industry, which is one of the major contributors to employment generation and revenue in the state. Government department officials from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana also graced the event, in order to understand the policies of adopted in Rajasthan vis-a-vis the stone and mining industry.

Ashok Chandna, addressing the gathering said that Rajasthan is blessed with huge deposits of natural stone like marble, sandstone, granite and slate and has one of the most industry friendly mining policy in the country, as compared to the other states.  These policies, which has nil political interference have encouraged immense entrepreneurship in this domain across the state as well as resulted in investements to the tune of Rs 1,000 Crore in the state.

Branding Rajasthan Stone

The Minister also said that there was need to brand the granite and marble from Rajasthan and also to make the consumer more knowledgeable by sharing details of the material and their origin, on social media platforms, which, with their growing presence in the country and abroad are the biggest source of taking local business global. During his address, the honorable Minister also highlighted the investor friendly and no-intereference mining policies of the state government and invited stakeholders from states in the south to invest in Rajasthan.

Air Cargo and ICD at Udaipur

Rajiv Arora, Chairman of RSICL said that the aviation ministry has given an in-principle approval to RSICL to st up and Air Cargo complex at Udaipur Airport and the location has also been identified. Arora surveyed the alloted location near Dabok Airport and also met the authorities of the airport authority. This Air Cargo complex will also facilitate export of handicraft, building stone, mining products and fruits and vegetables directly from Udaipur. Further, it will also facilitate the import of material needed for local consumption, specially during the mass destination wedding season, directly to Udaipur. 

FIGSI Seminar at Udaipur

The above mentioned seminar, which was a gathering of stakeholders in the stone mining and trading business from across Rajasthan as well as states from Southern India, also witnessed participation from various relevant government departments. The other eminent personalities in the meeting included Akshayeep Mathur, Secretary General of FMAR; Ishwinder Singh, President, FIGSI; Kalit Bhandari, Joint Secy, FIGSI; Zaki Chakkiwala, Chairman, FIGSI, Rajasthan; Mahaveer Rathore, Vice President, FIGSI and Krishna Prasad, General Secy, among others.

About FIGSI and its initiatives

Federation of Indian Granite and Stone Industry (FIGSI) is a non profit all India organization serving the natural stone industry of India from the last 39 years and having more than 1350 members across the country. The federation works as a bridge between the Industry and Various Government Departments in State and Central level.

FIGSI is working tirelessly for the betterment of the Natural Stone Industry and looking into the present shortage of trained personal FIGSI decided to establish a training and skill development center for the Natural Stone Industry in order to train work force both for the quarrying and processing sector. A centre each will be established at Jaipur in Rajasthan and Hosur in Karnataka to cater to the north/west and south/east respectively. 

The center at Jaipur will cater the requirement of Marble, Sandstone, Granite and other natural stones whereas the Hosur centre will cater the requirement of Granite and monument sector.

In this Centre for Excellence both at Jaipur and Hosur, FIGSI will be establishing a Stone Museum of International standards wherein various varieties of Granites and other natural stones  in different forms including monuments and artifacts from all over India will be displayed.

What is an ICD

ICD stands for Inland Container Depot is a dry port (located in the interiors outside of port towns) equipped for handling and temporary storage of containerized cargo as well as empties. This will mean that Udaipur importers and exporters can receive port services more conveniently. It will facilitate consolidation of import and distribution functions close to home.