The Hindu Business Line : R.K. Marble bets on Wonder brand to raise market share

"HARD as granite; Beautiful as marble." These words describe `Wonder Marble' from the mines of R.K. Marble Pvt Ltd, according to its Director, Mr Vikas Patni.

Wonder Marble, is a type of coloured marble that the company stumbled upon when it leased the mines near Jabalpur in 2001. Its speciality, according to Mr Patni, is that it is as hard as granite with the aesthetics of marble. So the company decided to promote it as a brand rather than keeping to the trend of naming marbles after their place of origin, he said.

The company is betting on this marble to take on international competition - including that posed by Italian marbles. With the growth in construction industry, the demand for marble has been on the increase. Over 80,000 - 90,000 sq ft of imported marbles are sold in the domestic market, and most of it is from the mines in Oman and Greece. Less than 40 per cent of imports are from Italy, and these are not the prime varieties, he said.

With Wonder Marble the company hopes to increase its domestic market share and export to the US, UK and West Asia. Over the last two years the company has tested the product in various laboratories. Now it is pushing the brand aggressively, according to Mr Patni.

It has invested Rs 25 crore in a new processing and polishing plant for this marble. The company will handle the entire output from the mine and sell it branded. Its other mine at Morwad, Rajasthan, produces the traditional range of marbles, which are also sold to other traders. R.K. Marble's mines have a capacity to produce about 12 lakh tonnes of marble a year.

It produces about 25 per cent, about 4 lakh sq.ft. a day, of the Indian marbles. The company, which reported a turnover of Rs 164 crore last year, is targeting a turnover of Rs 215 crore this fiscal, he said.

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R.K. Marble bets on Wonder brand to raise market share