M-Sand Projects

Coal India Ltd will commission five Manufactured Sand (M-Sand) plants by 2024.

Need for M-Sand: Alternatives to River Sand: Due to high demand, regulated supply, and a complete ban on sand mining during monsoon to protect the river ecosystem, finding alternatives to river sand became necessary.

• Harnessing Overburden: During Opencast mining the overlying soil and rocks are removed as waste to extract coal and the fragmented rock (Overburden or OB) is heaped in dumps.
• Coal India Ltd (CIL) has envisaged to process the overburden rocks for sand production in mines where OB material contain about 60% sandstone by volume which is harnessed through crushing and processing of Overburden.

Benefits: Cost-effective: Using manufactured sand can be more cost-effective than using natural sand, as it can be produced in large quantities at a lower cost.

• Consistency: Manufactured sand can have a consistent grain size and shape, which can be beneficial for construction projects that require a specific type of sand.
• Environmental Benefits: Using manufactured sand can help to reduce the need for mining natural sand, which can have negative environmental impacts.