According to the chief executive officer of the Centre for Development of Stones (CDOS), Rajasthan, KP Lal, the agencies that have assured support and participation include United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), IMM Carrara, Italy, Indo-German Export Promotion Project (IGEP), Nurnberg Messe, Germany, VDMA Germany, and Verona Fair Authority Italy.

The fair is being organised by CDOS, Rajasthan State Industrial Development and Investment Corporation Ltd (RIICO) and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) with the support of the state government of Rajasthan, the union ministries of mines, commerce and industry.

Lal told The Financial Express from Jaipur that several trade delegationsfrom Italy, Germany, Japan, China, the USA, Brazil, Greece, Middle East, Turkey, Spain, Taiwan and Malaysia also have confirmed participation.

The international agencies will be looking not only for good quality stone sellers but also buyers as the government of India has recently allowed import of stones and stone products under the special import licence (SIL) scheme.

Hence, the international stone companies might consider Stonemart 2000 as a great opportunity to penetrate the Indian market in a big way.

About 60 per cent of the total exhibitor space have already been booked. Industrial teams from most of the states with stone resources in the country especially Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat will be participating in a big way.

To be held in the Export Promotional Industrial Park, in the state capital, the Stonemart will have three concurrent events.

(A) International exhibition:

It will have 4860 square metres of Indoor space spread over six hangers, in addition tooutdoor space of 6800 square metres. About 360 stalls are proposed in the fair. The stalls will be of size 9, 12 and 30 square metres each or in the multiples thereof in the indoor area and 100 square metres each in the open space.

(B) International conference:

The meet, during February 2-3 will be on `Dimensional Stone Industry - opportunities and challenges in the new millennium'. It will deliberate on issues relating to World Stone Scenario, Emerging Investment Opportunities, Stone Technologies in the 21st Century and Global Stone Trade and Current Marketing trends.

(C) Stonetechmart - Buyer Seller Business Meet:

This investment and technology market, is a programme under the aegis of the UNIDO and the union ministry of industry, CDOS and RIICO during February 4-5, to capitalise on the potential and capabilities of dimensional stone sector in Rajasthan.

The Stonemart is expected to provide a platform for marketing tie-ups, technological exchange and collaborations. It would assistthe international and Indian industry to reach out and interact with each other and is expected to contribute significantly to international technology exposure to the stone industry leading to its modernisation.

India possesses enormous deposits of natural stones notably marble, granite, sandstone, flaggy limestone (Kotastone), quartzite and slate. India has the highest stone production in the world and accounts for more than 26 per cent of the world stone production.

The country ranks third in world stone exports with a 10.8 per cent share in 1997-98 in terms of tonnage. Stone exports from India was over Rs 1300 crore (US$ 309 million) in 1997-98. Major stone importers from India are Italy, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, USA and Germany.

The Indian stone industry employs about 1 million people. Domestic consumption of stone is worth over US$ 1250 million.

Rajasthan can be called the marble yard of India. Of the 1200 million tonnes of estimated marble reserves in the country, Rajasthan accounts for 91 percent with more than 1100 million tonnes.

The state accounts for 95 per cent of the marble production. (A few varieties are produced in Gujarat.) Splendid varieties of marble are spread all over Rajasthan, mainly in the districts of Nagaur, Udaipur, Rajsamand, Banswara, Dungarpur, Jaipur, Sirohi, Bhilwara, Ajmer, Bundi, Alwar and Pali.There are about 3660 marble mining leases with a production of 3.44 million tonnes in 1997-98.

There are 1,100 marble processing units and 50 automatic tiling plants. The state has a marble slab processing capacity of 1,000 million square feet per annum and marble tiling capacity of 300 million square feet per annum.Granite reserves in Rajasthan are estimated at 1128 million cubic metres and are spread over in the districts of Barmer, Jalore, Pali, Sirohi, Alwar, Jaipur, Jhunjhunu, Tonk, Ajmer, Bhilwara, Sikar and Udaipur.

There are 665 granite-mining leases in Rajasthan with a production of 52,020 tonnes in 1997-98. Rajasthan has a granite slab processing capacity of 15million square feet per annum and granite tiling capacity of 50 million square feet per annum.

Sandstone reserves in Rajasthan are spread over in the districts of Bharatpur, Dholpur, Kota, Jodhpur, Sawaimadhopur, Bundi, Chittorgarh, Nimbahera, Bikaner, Jhalawar, Pali and Jaisalmer. There are 1847 sandstone mining leases in Rajasthan with a production of 4.91 million tonnes in 1997-98. Flaggy Limestone (Kotahstone) deposits in Rajasthan are present in the districts of Kota, Chittorgarh & Jhalawar with a production of 2.10 mllion tonnes in 1997-98.

Slate deposits in Rajasthan are spread over the districts of Alwar, Ajmer, Bharatpur, Tonk, Sawai Madhopur, Pali, Udaipur, Churu and Chittorgarh. There are 32 slate mining leases in Rajasthan with a production of 8,000 tonnes in 1997-98.