Introduction

Cement concrete tiles and paving blocks are precast solid products made out of cement concrete. The product is made in various sizes and shapes viz. rectangular, square and round blocks of different dimensions with designs for interlocking of adjacent tiles blocks. The raw materials required for manufacture of the product are portland cement and aggregates which are available locally in every part of the country.

Market Potential

Cement concrete tiles and paving blocks find applications in pavements, footpaths, gardens, passenger waiting sheds, bus-stops, industry and other public places. The product is commonly used in urban areas for the aboveapplications. Hence, the unit may be set up in urban and semi-urban areas, near the market.

A lot of face-lift is being given to roads, footpaths along the roadside. Concrete paving blocks are ideal materials on the footpaths for easy laying, better look and finish. Whereas the tiles find extensive use outside the large building and houses, lots of these materials are also used in flooring in the open areas of public offices and commercial buildings and residential apartments.

Basis and Presumptions

Efficiency: It is envisaged that the unit will run on two shift a day for 25 days in a month or 300 days in a year. 75 percent efficiency of machinery and manpower is considered.

Time Period: Full capacity utilization is expected to be achieved within 12 months of commencement of commercial production.

Labour Wages: Minimum applicable wages are considered.

Interest Rate: An interest rate of 12% per annum on the total capital investment has been considered.

Margin Money: Promoter is expected to bring in 25% of the total capital investment.

Pay Back Period: The project will have a payback period of about 3-4 years.

Land and Construction Cost: Land cost is considered at Rs. 4000 per square meter, and Construction cost for office and stores at Rs. 9000.00 per square meter, and work shed at Rs. 6000 per square meter.

Implementation Schedule

Sl. No.	Activity	Period
1.	Preparation of the project report, selection of site, provisional registration from DIC, availability of finance	2 months
2.	Construction of building, procurement of machinery and equipment, availability of electrical power	3 months
3.	Erection and commissioning, recruitment of manpower, trial runs and commencement of commercial production	1 month
Total implementation period		6 months.

Technical Aspects

Process of Manufacture

Cement concrete is a mixture of portland cement, aggregates (sand and stone chips) and water. Aggregates passing through 4.7 mm IS sieve are known as fine aggregates and the aggregates retained on this sieve are coarse aggregates.

The process of manufacture of cement concrete paving blocks involves the following steps:

a) Proportioning
b) Mixing
c) Compacting
d) Curing
e) Drying

A concrete mix of 1:2:4 (cement: sand: stone chips) by volume may be used for cement concrete paving blocks with water to cement ratio of 0.62. The concrete mix should not be richer than 1:6 by volume of cement to combined aggregates before mixing. Fineness modules of combined aggregates should be in the range of 3.6 to 4.0.

All the raw materials are placed in a concrete mixer and the mixer is rotated for 15 minutes. The prepared mix is discharged from the mixer and consumed in the next 30 minutes. Vibrating table may be used for compacting the concrete mix in the moulds of desired sizes and shapes. After compacting the blocks are demoulded and kept for 24 hours in a shelter away from direct sun and winds.

The blocks thus hardened are cured with water to permit complete moisturisation for 14 to 21 days. Water in the curing tanks is changed every 3 to 4 days. After curing, the blocks are dried in natural atmosphere and sent for use.

The concrete paving blocks gain good strength during the first 3 days of curing and maximum gains in strengths are secured in the first 10 to 15 days of curing. After curing, blocks are allowed to dry in shade so that the initial shrinkage of the blocks is completed before they are used in the work. A drying period of 7 to 15 days would normally complete the drying shrinkage after which they can be used. The concrete tiles are similarly produced with the help of semi-dry pressing of the mixture and allowed to set for 24-36 hours. It is cured in the tanks for 15 days. If need be water can also be sprinkled to gain maximum physical strength in 15-21 days.

Quality Control and Standards

a) Indian Standard Specification

There is no Indian Standard Specification specifically on cement concrete paving blocks. However, the specifications laid down in IS 2185 (Part 1) Specification for concrete masonry units: Part 1 for Hollow and Solid concrete blocks, may be used as general guidelines for meeting the quality parameters, since the paving blocks are also essentially solid cement concrete blocks.

b) Quality Requirements

Proportioning of raw materials, mixing, compacting, curing and drying are the important stages of manufacture.

Quality parameters like actual proportion of the individual raw materials, ratio of coarse aggregates to fine aggregates, water to cement ratio, good finish, accuracy in size and shape and compression strength after curing are the some of the important parameters that should be checked periodically to ensure good quality of the product.

Production Capacity (per annum)

Quantity:	800 tonnes
Value:	Rs. 22, 00, 000
Motive Power	80HP.

Pollution Control

Dust collecting unit is required to be installed at the mixing and raw material handling section. The workers may use dust masks.

Energy Conservation

General maintenance of the machine and drive system can be employed for saving energy.

Financial Aspects

A. Fixed Capital

(i) Land and Building

Particulars	Sq. Meters	Rate (Rs.)	Value (Rs.)
Land	2000	4000	80,00,000
Built up area
Office, raw material and finished product stores, D.G. set room, water bore well, boundary wall gates, security room and workers room etc.	500		40,00,000
Working Shed	500	6,000	30,00,000
Total			1,50,00,000

(ii) Machinery and Equipments

Description	Imp/ Ind.	Qty. (Nos.)	Rate (Rs.)	Value (Rs.)
Production Unit
Concrete mixer: capacity 10cft/7cft with 3 hp motor, speed of the mixer drum 20 rpm, and other accessories	Ind.	1	4,00,000	4,00,000
Hydraulically operated Concrete block making machine: capacity 1500 blocks per shift, with pressure vibration technique for compaction, 3 HP motor, and other accessories	Ind.	1	6,00,000	6,00,000
Mechanical tile melting press with 7HP motor		1	4,00,000	4,00,000
Construction of curing tanks	Ind.	4	2,50,000	10,00,000
Mould tools, weighing scale etc., electrical generator and electrical system, and pollution control system and laboratory	Ind.	LS		23.00,000
Water pump set with tube well, water storage tank,	Ind.	1	2,00,000	12,00,000
Cost of erection, installation lump sum				5,00,000
Cost of office equipment, furniture etc.				300,000
Total				57,00,000

(iii) Pre-Operative Expenses (per month)	(Rs.)
Project report cost, non-refundable deposits, etc.	3,00,000
(iv) Total Fixed Capital (i+ii+iii)	2,10,00,000

B. Working Capital (Per Month)

(i) Personnel (per month)

Designation	No.	Salary (Rs.)	Total (Rs.)
Administration and Supervisory personnel
General Manager	1	25,000	25,000
Administrative plus accounting sales and finance staff	8	9,000	72,000
Watchman	4	4,000	16,000
Technical: Skilled and Semi or Unskilled personnel
Skilled Workers	4	5,000	20,000
Unskilled workers	20	3,500	70,000
Perquisites @22% of the above			45,000
Total cost of Salaries and wages			2,48,000

(ii) Raw Materials (per month)

Particulars	Imp/Ind.	Qty.	Unit	Rate (Rs.)	Value (Rs.)
Portland cement	Ind.	30	Tonnes	4,000	1,20,000
Sand	Ind.	70	Tonnes	500	35,000
Stone chips	Ind.	70	Tonnes	600	42,000
Total					1,97,000

(iii) Utilities (per month)

Particulars	Qty. (Rs.)	Unit	Rate (Rs.)	Value (Rs.)
Electrical Power	24000	kWH	4	96,000
Water	500	Kiloliters	45	23,000
Total				1,19,000

(iv) Other Contingent Expenses (per month)

Particulars	Value (Rs.)
Postage and Stationery	3,000
Telephone	5,000
Consumable stores	10,000
Repairs and maintenance	10,000
Transport Charges	15,000
Sales, marketing and misc. charges lump sum	25,000
Insurance	13,000
Total	81,000
Total Recurring Expenditure (per month) (i +ii + iii + iv)	6,45,000
Total Working capital (on 3 months basis)	19,35,000

C. Total Capital Investment

(i) Total Fixed Capital	Rs. 2,10,00,000
(ii) Total working Capital	Rs. 19,35,000
Total	Rs. 2,29,35,000

Machinery Utilisation

Machinery utilisation of 75% has been considered in the project.

Financial Analysis

(1) Cost of Production (per year)

Description	Value (Rs.)
Total recurring cost	77,40,000
Depreciation on building @ 5%	3,50,000
Depreciation on Machinery and Equipment @ 10%	2,40,000
Depreciation on office equipment, mould etc. @ 20%	5,20,000
Interest on capital investment @ 12%	27,52,000
Total	1,16,02,000

(2) Sales Turnover (per year)

Item	Qty	Unit	Rate (Rs.)	Value (Rs.)
Cement concrete paving blocks	1,600	Tonnes	5,891	94,27,000
Cement Concrete Tiles	800	Tonnes	6345	50,76,000
Total				1,45,03,000

(3) Net Profit (before tax) (2 - 1)

Rs. 1,45,03,000 - Rs. 1,16,02,000

=

Rs. 29,01,000

(4) Net Profit Ratio

	=	Net Profit per year x 100 ----------------------------
		Sales Turnover per year
	=	29,01,000 x 100 ----------------------
		1,45,03,000
	=	20%

(5) Rate of Return (percent)

=	Net Profit per year x 100 ------------------------------
	Total Capital investment

=	29,01,000 x 100 -------------------
	2,29,35,000
=	12.65%

(6) Break Even Point

Fixed Cost	Value (Rs.)
Total depreciation	11,10,000
Interest on total capital investment	27,52,000
Insurance	1,56,000
40% of Salaries and wages	11,90,000
40% of other contingent expenses	3,89,000
Total	55,97,000

B.E.P.	=	Fixed Cost x 100 ---------------------
		Fixed Cost + Net Profit
	=	55,97,000 x 100 --------------------
		55,97,000 + 29,01,000
	=	65.8%

Addresses of Machinery and Equipment Suppliers

1. M/s. Engineers Enterprises
189, Bharathiyar Road,
Ganapathy
Maniyakaranpalayam Road,
Near IEC Bus Stop, Ganapathy
Coimbatore - 641 006
(Tamil Nadu)
Phone: 91-0422-530639, 530788, and 532260,
Fax: 91-0422-532260, 531893

2. M/s. Victor Electrical and Machinery Manufactures
3616, Netaji Subash Marg,
Daryaganj,
New Delhi - 110 002
Phone: 23263118, 23265823

3. M/s. Buildtech Engineering Co.
Shree Ashadweep Complex,
16-Civil Lines,
Roorkee - 247 667,
(Uttar Pradesh)
Phone/Fax: 01332-73443

4. M/s. Karthik Industries
36, J.C. Road, Bangalore-560 002
Phone: 91-80-2224825, 2235218; 2233739
Fax: 91-80-2213703
E-mail: karthikengineering@vsnl.com

5. M/s. Susanji Udyog Pvt. Ltd.
C-47, Industrial Estate,
Sanathnagar,
Hyderabad - 500 018
Phone: 3704194, 3711464
E-mail: susanji@satyam.net.in

6. M/s. Apco Concrete Blocks and Allied Products
7th Mile, Kanakpura Road,
Doddasandra Post
Bangalore - 560 062

7. M/s. Ashok Engineering Works
81, Ajit Industrial Estate Rakhial,
Ahmedabad - 380 023

8. M/s. Hydro Engineering Works
K1/116, CIDC, Mori, (Gujarat)

Raw Material Suppliers

Local suppliers and dealers available for cement and aggregates like sand and stone chips.

Contact for more information:

Information Manager
TIMEIS Project
E-mail: timeis@ficci.com