A Reboot Of India's Brick Technology

In India, brick is one of the most important building materials. During the Mughal rule, brick making was a common practice. The arrival of Europeans had a substantial impact on brick manufacturing in India. As the second largest producer of bricks, India produces over 10 per cent of the bricks that are globally produced. India has  about 1,40,000 brick-making enterprises, which accounts for 250 billion brick masonry units.

Production of bricks

Due to availability of soil and fuel, demand and market conditions, the scale of production varies across India. Bricks are still produced using traditional techniques, involving manual labour and inefficient methods. Processes like firing and drying are done in open air, thus making it season-dependent.

Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal are the major brick producing states in India. These states are account for about 65 per cent of the production. The brick kilns are located in clusters around main towns and cities with a production capacity of over 2–10 million bricks per year.

Usually, the kilns operate for 6-8 months. Because of seasonal dependencies, the production process is brought to a virtual standstill during monsoon. Brick production in northern mountain regions in India such as Srinagar, Jammu and Dehradun is very low, and limited to the valleys.

Environmental issues

The Indian brick industry is highly resource and energy intensive, and a polluting industry because of primitive production technologies. The clusters are a major source of air pollution affecting the origin area, and the surrounding areas. Local population, agriculture and vegetation are the affected the most, from the clusters. At a global scale, they also contribute much to climate change.

Coal is the main resource for the brick industry. The brick sector consumes about 24 million tonnes of coal per year. This is about 8 % of the total coal consumption in India. In addition, it also consumes several million tonnes of biomass fuels.

The huge coal consumption of the brick sector is the cause of substantial air pollution The large amounts of coal used for brick firing also leave behind bottom ash as residue. The air pollution and bottom ash generated cause considerable health problems, especially related to respiratory health. This also causes damage to property and crops. The old kiln unit itself occupies a considerable land, and is subjected to high temperature. This makes it unfit for further agricultural activities.

Socio-economic issues

Workers in the brick industry are subjected to extreme working conditions. The remuneration is poor too. In India, a contractor usually brings in construction labourers. As they are not under the payrolls of the owner, labour laws do not protect them. The nature of work in the brick sector is seasonal (eight months), and this makes labourers search for other jobs, and to fill in the monthly gap in a year.  

In the brick industry, the nature of the work requires skilled labour, especially for moulding and firing. The newer generation does not want to be associated with the brick sector any longer. So, there is a labour shortage. In fact, there is an upsurge in wages also.  

When every industry is technology driven, why is the brick industry different? We are still restricted to the traditional method of brick producing. The rate of technology advancement in this sector has been significantly slow since post-Independence.

Urban population in India is rising. The booming economy and the growing along with rapid urbanisation has led to an exponential demand for infrastructure in India.

It is estimated that from 2005 to 2030, the building construction in India will grow at a rate of 6.6 per cent. The annual demand for walling material will rise to nearly 500 billion brick equivalent masonry units by 2030. Over the coming years, the demand for building materials will also rise exponentially.

Alternate materials that are likely to gain popularity

In the past two decades, many substitutes have been coming up, like concrete blocks, FaL-G blocks (fly ash-lime-gypsum) and AAC (autoclaved aerated concrete). These building materials are alternatives to traditionally fired solid clay bricks.

These alternate building materials are comparable in cost and are gaining acceptance. According to many estimates, demand for these alternate materials would rise. The ministry of urban development can draft a building materials policy which will promote and increase the production of non-fired masonry units.