Brick industry is an important sector in SMEs. It is a traditional craft whose products have always been in great demend. At the moment, rising energy costs and lightening environmental regulations are the burning issues that confront brick manufacturing in the SME sector. In view of the sustained growth in the housing and construction sector, the demand for bricks continues to grow. Sadly, there is little augmentation of capacity in the traditional clay brick production. In the face of adversity faced by clay brick producers, a silent revolution is underway with the emergence of fly ash brick production.

There are highly positive market trends that are driving the growth of capacity of fly ash brick production. There is emergence of thousands of industrial units that have invested in captive generation capacity for coal based power production (greater than 1HW). With the proliferation of large scale power producers, fly ash availability in large clusters in Orissa (Odisha), Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and West Bengal is relatively easy. Additionally, the environmental regulation has a positive disposition towards fly ash brick production at the level of small scale production. Select Pollution Control Boards, as in Maharashtra, have accorded a "green status industry" to fly ash brick production SMEs.

Two other important drivers guide the investment in new fly ash brick production units - market growth and easy availability of technology. The government, as a user, has been instrumental in spurring the use of fly ash bricks in building construction in preference to burnt clay bricks. As a result, there has been a proliferation in usage of fly ash building products in government and institutional buildings. The Development Alternatives World Headquarters Building has set a benchmark in the use of fly ash bricks with exposed brick work for interior and exterior usage. Fly ash technology has also reached a maturity level with dominant players like TARA Machines and Institute for Solid Waste Research & Ecological Balance (INSWAREB) engaged in offering robust technology solutions for a wide spectrum of fly ash types. Large fly ash brick producers have emerged and new capacity addition is taking place at a breakneck pace.

In the words of Malcolm Gladwell: ‘The Tipping Point’ is reached. The tipping point is the critical point in an evolving situation that leads to a new and irreversible development. q