The story
Fire clay found alongside the coal seams of the Damodar valley and steady demand from steel plants and furnaces gave rise to a refractory cluster at Chirkunda, on the Jharkhand–West Bengal border. Units make bricks and shapes that line blast furnaces, kilns and boilers. The cluster has been studied under the MSE-CDP programme.
In numbers
The Chirkunda refractory cluster had 102 functional units, a turnover of Rs. 400 crore, exports of Rs. 150 crore (2004-05) and employment of 7,000.
Brief Industrial Profile of Dhanbad District, MSME-DI Ranchi, Ministry of MSME · 2012
Ways in for a newcomer
- Supply of specialised refractories to steel, cement and glass plants
- Refractory installation and relining services
- Testing lab for refractory properties
Problems the cluster faces
- Coal-fired kilns and pollution norms
- Competition from large refractory makers and imports
- Raw-material quality variation
Businesses to start here
Fire Clay Refractory Bricks and Blocks →Chemical Porcelain (Laboratory Ware) →