PROBABLE

MARKETING
STRATEGIES OF FLY
ASH BRICKS IN WEST
BENGAL
BY
MADHURI BHATTACHARYA
Research Scholar, Dept. of Business Administration,
University of Burdwan.
 FLY ASH
Fly Ash, an industrial by product from
Thermal Power Plants is proven suitable
for variety of applications as ad mixture in
cement/ concrete/ mortar/ bricks/ block
etc.
Fly Ash as a building material has many
advantages, like cost effectiveness,
environmental friendly, increases in
strength and conservation of other natural
resources and materials.
The ash is generally available in forms of Fly
Ash, Bottom Ash. About 70-80% of the total
ash comes out from boilers along with flue
gases are collected by mechanical separators,
bag houses or electrostatic precipitators. This
is termed as “fly ash”. The balance 30-20%
“bottom ash” collected at the bottom of the
boiler.

Out of total ash production, Fly Ash

contributes to a small percentage, majority
being Pond Ash and Bottom Ash.
Why Fly Ash based Bricks?
According to the report published by the census
in March, 2011, the total population of the
country was 1,210,193,422. A total of 181
billion people increased from the previous
census of 2001. Presently mostly populated
states of India are
•Uttar Pradesh,
•Bihar,
•Maharashtra,
•West Bengal,
•Tamil Nadu, and Madhya Pradesh.
 Raw Materials for Fly Ash based bricks
•Fly Ash, Sand and Cement (Ordinary
Portland Cement).
Or
•Fly Ash, Sand, Lime and Gypsum (FAL-G).

Consumption of Fly Ash to produce a single

fly ash based brick is 1.250gm. In West
Bengal yearly production of fly ash based
bricks is 10 crores approx
 Present scenario of Fly Ash based brick
industries in West Bengal
The Central and State Governments are
greatly concerned about top soil erosion
for the production of massive quantities of
clay bricks for enormous housing needs.
The Ministry of Power, Government of
India, issued circulars to all concerned
department and organizations to promote
the use of Fly-Ash in the production of
building materials.
During the rainy seasons supply of clay bricks are
very difficult. Therefore, in order to fulfill the
required demand there will be a great chance to start
more units in the field of fly ash bricks.
In West Bengal, presently 65 nos. fly ash based brick
units are running. There are more 16 units upcoming
in 2013. With a single machine 20,000 nos bricks
making are possible in two shifts/ day.

The price of the cement based fly ash bricks is

little bit higher than the lime gypsum based
bricks, but lower than traditional clay burnt
brick.
Central Electricity Authority of New
Delhi is monitoring fly ash generation and
its utilization at coal/ lignite based thermal
power stations in the country since 1996
on behalf of Ministry of Power. They made
a report on 90 coal/lignite based Thermal
Power Stations of India which generates
Fly Ash & utilize them in different areas.
Here I only mention the data of West
Bengal.
Power utility wise fly ash generation and utilization for 1st
half of the year 2011-12

Name of Power Nos of Installed Fly ash Fly ash Percentage

Utility TPP capacity generation utilization of utilization
(MW) (mt) (mt)

West Bengal
Power 5 3610 3.33 2.89 86.78
Development
Corporation
Ltd.
(W.B.P.D.C.
L)
 FLY ASH GENERATION & ITS
UTILIZATION IN WEST BENGAL

Nos of capacity Fly ash Fly ash Percentage of

TPP (MW) generation utilization utilization
(mt) (mt)

12 9156 7.42 5.87 79.11

Level of ash utilization Nos. of Power
Stations
100% and more than 16
100%
Less than 100% and up to 19
75%
Less than 75% and up to 14
60%
Less than 60% (for plants 39
commissioned before 3rd
Nov.2009)
Less than 50% (for green field 2
plants commissioned after 3rd
Nov.2009).
Sl. Name of Name of Fly ash
No. Thermal Power utilization
Power Stations utilities in
Percentage
1. B.B.G.S C.E.S.C. 100.00
2. S.G.S C.E.S.C. 100.00
3. T.G.S C.E.S.C. 100.00
4. Bakreshwar W.B.P.D.C. 122.09
L
5. Bandel W.B.P.D.C. 140.68
L
Power Stations in Ash Utilization Range of less
than 100% and up to 75% during 1st half of the
year 2011-12 in West Bengal are

Sl. Name of Name of Fly Ash

No. Thermal Power utilization
Power Stations utilities (%)
1. D.P.L D.P.L 90.70
(West
Bengal)
2. KOLAGHAT W.B.P.D.C 99.80
.L.(West
Bengal)
 Area of Fly Ash utilization in West Bengal
Name of TPS Cement Bricks Roads, Reclamati Mine Agriculture Other
(mpta) (mpta) Embankmen on Filling (mpta) s
t& (mpta) (mpta) (mpta
Ash Dykes )
(mpta)
B.B.G.S. 0.56 0.01 - - - - 0.18
S.G.S. 0.12 - - - - 0.02
T.G.S. 0.01 0.03 0.03 - - - 0.10
DURGAPUR - 0.00 - - 0.06 - 0.06
MEJIA 0.27 0.02 0.53 0.83
D.P.L 0.01 0.00 0.04 0.22 -
KOLAGHAT 0.23 0.08 - - - - 0.93
SAGARDIG 0.04 0.01 - - - - 0.00
HI
BANDEL - 0.01 - - - - 0.40
SANTALDIH - 0.00 - - - - -
BAKRESWA 0.41 0.01 0.00 - - - 0.75
R
FARAKKA 0.39 0.00 0.33 0.04 - -
 FLY ASH BASED BRICK After sundry atleast for 7 days, product will ready for
MANUFACTURING PROCESS delivery

Curing of stacked Cement base fly ash bricks

by water spraying for 21 days

Air dry under covered shed for 24 hours from basic stacking

Machine room

Mixing zone of composite mortar

Raw materials stacking yard (Fly ash, Cement, Sand)

Basic Technical Details of Fly Ash Bases Bricks in
Comparison with Clay Burn Bricks
Sl. No. Items Conventional Fly Ash based bricks
clay burnt
bricks

1. Dimension in 250mmX125 190mmX90m 230mmX110

mm(LXWXH) mmX75mm mX90mm mmX75
2. Colour Red Grey Grey
3. Basic Ingredient earth or clay fly ash fly ash
4. Density (gm/cc) 1.60-1.70 1.80-1.90 1.80-1.90
5. Dry weight(in kgs) 3.75-4.00 2.80-2.90 3.3- 3.5
6. Common building 50-65 70-90 75-100
bricks compressive
strength (kg/cm2)
7. Water absorption (in 15-25 10-15 10-15
%)
8. Breakage 5-7 1/2 percent Less than 1% Less than 1%
9. Efflorescence present negligible negligible
10. Eco-friendly NO YES YES
11. Mortar saving: N.A 10-15% 10-15%
During laying N.A. 25-30% 25-30%
During plastering
12. Carpet area savings per N.A. 6.8m2 2.80m2
% rmt N.A.
13. Brick requirement per % 4951 Nos 5065 Nos 4951 Nos
sqm 38,900 Nos 50,000 Nos 40,600 Nos
Per % cum
14. Labour Cost 20 – 30% 15 – 20% 15 – 20%
15. Quality Control Less possible 100% 100%
16. Outside plastering must May be May be
avoided, ruled avoided, ruled
pointing may pointing may
be applied be applied
17. Water treatment: Dipping Labour cost Labour cost nil Labour cost nil
in water before use prior involved(24
brick work hours must)
18. Whether qualifies for NO YES YES
CMD in terms of Kyoto
Protocol
•Maximum Fly Ash is used in cement
industries.

•In all over India, only 6.51% of Fly Ash is

used in Brick making.

•It is clear from the mentioned data is that all

most all the Thermal Power Stations are
involved in sending Fly Ash to different Fly
Ash based brick industries, a eco friendly
construction material.
 Marketing scenario of Fly Ash Based bricks in
West Bengal
In west Bengal, mainly direct marketing of Fly Ash based bricks
are done by the Manufacturers. On the other side, marketing is
also done by retailers and syndicates. Presently, the users of Fly
Ash based bricks are mainly private sectors, and partly under
taking Govt. sectors. As transportation cost of Fly Ash based
bricks are uneconomic, for this reason in rural areas it is
preferable to install the Fly Ash based brick plants on those
areas for smooth supply and work shops are highly required in
those brick plants.

Awareness is increasing day by day in urban and rural areas. In

near future Govt initiatives are highly required to popularization
of the utility of Fly Ash based bricks and Blocks.
Recommended Marketing strategies in West
Bengal:-

Production of Fly Ash based brick depends on process

technologies. So maintaining the quality with quantity
is very important.
Work shop is required in rural areas to increase the
awareness about the fly ash based brick.
•In coastal area salinity level is very high. Mostly Fly
Ash based bricks are salinity free bricks. With the
support of Govt, if supply of bricks in those areas may
done in West Bengal then the building strengths of
those areas will increase and brick will also get the
popularity.
 In Sundarban area, many Govt projects are running.
There Fly Ash based bricks can be used instead of Clay
Burnt bricks.
•In city’s popular places, Govt may build small Model
houses with this Fly Ash based bricks for marketing
purposes.

•Ministry of Rural Development through Indira Awas

Yojana(IAY) undertake the project of housing for rural
poor with Centrally sponsored scheme where the cost
shared between the Centre and States on a 75:25 basis. In
this kind of schemes or Yojana West Bengal state Govt.
may use Fly Ash based bricks for housing to reduce the
cost.
 Conclusion
If Fly Ash bricks can replace 50% of clay bricks then it
will reduce emission of green house gas by 435,000 tons
each year.

Fly Ash based Bricks industries needs fragmented market

that are serviced by plants located in the local area. The
present utilization of Fly Ash in the country is nominal as
compared to other advanced countries. Continuous effort
is needed to increase the utilization of the Fly Ash in our
country. There is a necessity in future for all Thermal
Power Stations to utilize as much quantity of ash as
possible to reduce the disposal problems. Bricks
consumption has recorded a three- fold increase in last
India produces a lot of Ash in its Thermal Power
production process, but the quality of Ash produced is a
major hindrance in its widespread utilization. The Fly
Ash constitutes only a small fraction of the Total Ash
produced, primarily because of the Technological
Limitation of the Power Plants which are mostly old and
still produce coarse and Wet Ash which is difficult to use
for construction purposes. Also Wet Ash is difficult to
handle and transport, resulting in formation of huge Ash
Ponds.
Good transportation facilities need to be created and
organized for enabling easy availability at point of use
for the Fly Ash based brick industries. Greater
awareness to companies needs to be provided for use of
Fly Ash in brick making.
West Bengal Pollution Control Board had
submitted a project proposal on “Capacity
Building for Efficient Utilization of Coal based
Thermal Power Plants ash in the State of West
Bengal” to the Fly Ash Unit, Department of
Science & Technology, Government of India.
Objective of this project is to transfer the
Knowledge for effective utilization of Fly Ash in
Constructions among the target groups.