Context: The Rajasthan government has brought a policy on manufactured sand (M-sand). 
Key Points

• It will reduce the dependence on riverbed sand.
• It will provide an industry status to the units producing manufactured sand for construction work.

What is Manufactured Sand(M-Sand)?

• Manufactured sand (M-Sand) is a substitute of river sand for concrete construction. It is produced by crushed hard granite stone.
• The crushed sand is of cubical shape with rounded edges, washed and graded to as a construction material. The size of manufactured sand (M-Sand) is less than 4.75mm.

Usage of Manufactured Sand

• Due to the fast-growing construction industry, the demand for sand has increased tremendously causing deficiency of suitable river sand in most parts of the world.
• Hence, to avoid the depletion of good quality river sand for the use of construction, the use of manufactured sand has been increased.

Benefits of M-Sand

• It is easily available and has less transportation cost.
• It does not contain organic and soluble compounds that affect the setting time and properties of cement, thus the required strength of concrete can be maintained.
• M-Sand does not have the presence of impurities such as clay, dust and silt coatings which help in producing better quality concrete.
• Furthermore, it can be dust-free and the sizes of m-sand can be controlled easily so that it meets the required grading for the given construction.
• It eliminates the environmental impact that occurred due to the lifting of natural sand from the river bed.

Disadvantages of M-sand

• Improper crushing of manufacturing sand may lead to angular and flaky particles that are not suitable for concrete production, both technically and economically.
• Also, an adequate set up of crusher may not be available in some parts of the county like West Bengal, as it costs higher than river sand.
• For high-grade pumpable concrete in high-rise buildings, the requirement of cement is higher than the river sand, which may not be cost-effective.