Sand is world’s second most consumed natural resource after water. Rapid urbanization and

global population growth have created unbound demand for this limited natural resource. With urbanization as key driving factor, construction industry has expanded considerably over the last few decades leading to overuse of river sand for construction purposes.  This increasing discrepancy between the need for aggregates in the society and scarcity of natural sand due to exhaustion of resources and environmental considerations, has urged concrete manufacturers to look for a suitable and sustainable alternative fine aggregate. The economical and ecological alternative is Manufactured sand.

M-sand (Manufactured sand) is a superior alternative to River Sand used for construction purpose. It is produced from crushing hard stones into small sand sized angular shaped particles, washed and finely graded to be used as construction aggregate. An investigation is led by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Government of Karnataka, on the appropriateness of M-sand as a fine aggregate. This examination details that the physical qualities of M-sand are like river sand, yet it is contrasted with it. This M-sand substituted concrete has a higher compressive strength of 6–9% and higher flexure strength of 12–15%.

State and the Central Government of India has taken several steps to control and regulate unsustainable excavation of riverbed sand mining. The Kerala government is reportedly the first State to start using M-sand extensively for construction. It has started popularizing the M-sand in 2004 after facing an acute shortage of natural sand. Furthermore, the State Government of Karnataka has made it obligatory for the Public Works Department (PWD) to utilize M-sand for the development of structures, bridges, and different works in September 2013. The International Center for Aggregates Research (ICAR) has given the promising results on the use of manufactured micro fines up to 17% in concrete. Hence, sand dredging is heavily taxed, and it is banned almost now in Tamil Nadu.The Rajasthan government has brought a policy on manufactured sand (M-sand) in January 2021. It will provide an industry status to the units producing manufactured sand for construction work. Karnataka has separate section for M-sand in the State Minor Mineral Concession Rules and has widely promoted it resulting in wide-spread adoption of M-sand in the State.Apart from Karnataka, the other States working in the direction to promote M-sand are Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Telangana.Andhra Pradesh and Telangana also have separate policy for M-sand.Andhra Pradesh and Telangana offer multiple incentives through their G.O.s for setting up M-sand production units.The total M-sand production in Karnataka, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat is 20 MMT, 7.2 MMT, 3.24 MMT, <1 MMT and <1 MMT respectively (2021).

Disadvantages of Manufactured Sand: Due to its smooth and angular textures, leads to more water and cement requirement to achieve the expected workability, thereby increase in overall costs. If the M Sand contains a large number of micro fine particles, it can affect the strength and workability of concrete.

By the year 2050, the global population would reach 9 billion, and accordingly, the construction activities are expected to grow with a long-term trend of sand scarcity, which needs to respond by the construction material industry.