SNAM Abrasives Pvt. Ltd has set up a facility in Hosur to make synthetic industrial diamonds. According to sources, the company would be one of the few companies to manufacture synthetic diamonds in the country.

Snam Abrasives was established in 1981 by three technocrats to manufacture silicon carbide micrograins. The company's turnover now is about Rs. 35 crores. Officials say there is a good demand for the company's products.

According to Mr. D. Muralidhar, Director, Snam Abrasives, commissioned its first plant in Hosur in 1981 at a cost of Rs. 35 lakhs, which had a capacity to manufacture 3,000 tonnes per annum of silicon carbide micrograins.

The second plant of Snam was set up in Atthibele, Karnataka, at a cost of Rs. 25 lakhs to manufacture 200 tonnes of silicon carbide micrograins, while the third plant was set up in Pondicherry at a cost of Rs. 9 crores to produce 5,000 tonnes of silicon magnesium and innoculants, annually. The export-oriented unit at Hosur, which was commissioned about two months ago, is the company's fourth plant.

Also, Snam Abrasives has tied up with International Super Abrasives Ltd (ISL), of the US, for technical knowhow.

Industrial Development Bank of India has financed 50 per cent of the project (through dollar loans), and the rest of the project cost had been raised from internal accruals. Mr. Muralidhar, however, refused to disclose the amount of investment in the Hosur unit.

According to Mr. Muralidhar, the plant would produce all varieties of diamonds of the range of six to seven million carats. Mr. Muralidhar expects his company to manufacture three to four million carats by the end of the first year.

He said that about 75 per cent of the synthetic industrial diamonds manufactured by Snam would be marketed in Europe, South America and South Africa, by the American collaborator. The remaining 25 per cent would be sold in the Indian market. It is learnt that the market for these industrial diamonds in the US is about $100-125 millions.

Snam's local competitors includes Mepco Industries, a Tidco joint venture which has a plant at Madurai. In the international market, its competitors in synthetic industrial diamonds are De Beers of South Africa, General Electric, Elgin and Sammy of South Korea, Tomai of Japan and Asian Diamonds of China.

According to Mr. Muralidhar, as Indian companies were still importing most of the industrial diamonds, it would take quite some time for Snam's products, which are priced competitively, to pick up in the local market.