Carborundum Universal Ltd (CUMI), a part of

Murugappa Group Murugappa Group is an Indian conglomerate founded in 1900. The Group has 28 businesses including nine companies listed on the NSE and the BSE. Headquartered in Chennai, the major companies of the Group include Carborundum Universal Ltd., Chol ...

, is one of the largest and oldest conglomerates in India. CUMI is the leading manufacturer and developer of

abrasive An abrasive is a material, often a mineral, that is used to shape or finish a workpiece through rubbing which leads to part of the workpiece being worn away by friction. While finishing a material often means polishing it to gain a smooth, reflec ...

ceramics A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...

refractories In materials science, a refractory material or refractory is a material that is resistant to decomposition by heat, pressure, or chemical attack, and retains strength and form at high temperatures. Refractories are polycrystalline, polyphase, ...

, aluminium oxide grains,

machine tools A machine tool is a machine for handling or machining metal or other rigid materials, usually by cutting, boring, grinding, shearing, or other forms of deformations. Machine tools employ some sort of tool that does the cutting or shaping. All m ...

polymers A polymer (; Greek '' poly-'', "many" + ''-mer'', "part") is a substance or material consisting of very large molecules called macromolecules, composed of many repeating subunits. Due to their broad spectrum of properties, both synthetic an ...

adhesives Adhesive, also known as glue, cement, mucilage, or paste, is any non-metallic substance applied to one or both surfaces of two separate items that binds them together and resists their separation. The use of adhesives offers certain advant ...

and electro minerals in India. The company has subsidiaries in India, Russia, South Africa, Australia, China, Thailand and Canada.

History

CUMI was established as a result of diversification from banking business through cycle manufacturing with the intent to manufacture abrasive materials. CUMI's

parent company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

, the

, made a tie up with the Carborundum, UK, a subsidiary of American abrasive manufacturer, Carborundum, USA and the Universal Grinding Co. Ltd., UK in 1950. The result was the Carborundum Universal of Madras. Then it was renamed and incorporated in 1954 as Carborundum Universal Ltd (CUMI).

Establishments

Initially CUMI was founded to manufacture the core products for the collaborating companies. Later the company established its first

bonded abrasive An abrasive is a material, often a mineral, that is used to shape or finish a workpiece through rubbing which leads to part of the workpiece being worn away by friction. While finishing a material often means polishing it to gain a smooth, reflec ...

plant at

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

with the facility acquired from Ajax Products and began its manufacturing in the abrasives platform. With the intention of producing technical ceramics for high temperature insulation products CUMI has made joint venture with

Morgan Crucible Morgan Advanced Materials is a company which manufactures specialist products, using carbon, advanced ceramics and composites. The company is headquartered in Windsor, United Kingdom, and has 85 sites across 30 countries. A public limited compa ...

Plc. UK resulted in the establishment of Murugappa Morgan Thermal Ceramics Ltd in 1982. The company has laid a strong foundation in Engineered Ceramics through number of joint ventures. In 1991 Wendt (India) Ltd, a joint ventured company of Wendt GmbH, Germany and The House of Khataus, was merged with the CUMI. CUMI's first Industrial Ceramics division was established in

Hosur Hosur is an industrial city located in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Hosur is one of the municipal corporations in Tamil Nadu. It is located on the bank of the river River Ponnaiyar, southeast of Bengaluru and west of Chennai, the state ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

as a technical partnership with

Coors Ceramics CoorsTek, Inc. is a privately owned manufacturer of technical ceramics for aerospace, automotive, chemical, electronics, medical, metallurgical, oil and gas, semiconductor and many other industries. CoorsTek headquarters and primary factories a ...

, USA in 1991. Later it was expanded with the unique Metallized Cylinders Plant. As a part of expanding their presence, in 2005 the company started CUMI Middle East FZE in Ras Al Khaimah. In order to strengthen their global presence CUMI bought Abrasive Enterprises Inc., Canada, for $2.24 Million by 2006. After a year CUMI established CUMI International Ltd in Cyprus.

Acquisitions

With in a decade, after the withdrawal of the collaborators, CUMI acquired Ajax Products Pvt Ltd. CUMI stepped up in abrasive industries by acquiring the Eastern Abrasives Ltd,

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

in 1978. In 1997 Cutfast Abrasive Tools Ltd, Eastern Abrasive Ltd, Cutfast Polymers Ltd and Carborundum Universal Investment are joined with Carborundum Universal Ltd. With in a year of acquisition of Sterling Abrasives Ltd and SEDCO in 2003, CUMI acquired CUMI Australia Pty Ltd., Australia. In 2007 the company took over a china based firm Sanhe Yanjiao Jingri Diamond Industrial Company Ltd and Russian Volzhsky Abrasive Works. The further acquisitions are followed in 2008, Foskor Zirconia Ltd, South Africa became a subsidiary of CUMI

Diversification

Besides manufacturing, marketing and distribution CUMI also involved in a diversified works like

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...

power generation Electricity generation is the process of generating electric power from sources of primary energy. For utilities in the electric power industry, it is the stage prior to its delivery ( transmission, distribution, etc.) to end users or its stor ...

and TOT agreements with various organizations. CUMI acquired

Bauxite Bauxite is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (Al(OH)3), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)) and diaspore (α-AlO(O ...

mines at Bhatia and Okha of Gujarat in India, Silicon Carbide plant in

Koratty Koratty is a census town in Thrissur district in the Indian state of Kerala. It is a main centre of Marian Pilgrimage. Demographics As of 2011 India census, Koratty had a population of 17,618. Males constitute 49% of the population and female ...

, Kerala and a Brown Aluminium Oxide grains Plant at

Edapally Edappally or Idappalli is a region in the city of Kochi, Kerala, India. It is a major commercial centre as well as a prominent residential region. Edappally junction is one of the busiest junctions in the city. History Edappally in English ...

, India. CUMI established a 12MW

Hydroelectric power plant Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

at Maniyar, Kerala in 1994 and a 5.5MW Wind mill at Nallur. CUMI made a

technology transfer Technology transfer (TT), also called transfer of technology (TOT), is the process of transferring (disseminating) technology from the person or organization that owns or holds it to another person or organization, in an attempt to transform invent ...

with Answer Technology Inc., USA for advanced monolithics and a technical collaboration with

National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology The National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST, formerly ''Regional Research Laboratory, Trivandrum'') is a constituent laboratory of CSIR, India, engaged in research and development activities in the field of agropr ...

of India,

Bhabha Atomic Research Centre The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) is India's premier nuclear research facility, headquartered in Trombay, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It was founded by Homi Jehangir Bhabha as the Atomic Energy Establishment, Trombay (AEET) in January 195 ...

of India and

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

of USA for the development of advanced ceramic technology. CUMI Direct CUMI Direct was started in the year of 2005. CUMI direct is selling * Ware house Equipment
Pallet Truck
*

Material Handling Equipment Material handling equipment (MHE) is mechanical equipment used for the movement, storage, control, and protection of materials, goods and products throughout the process of manufacturing, distribution, consumption, and disposal. The different types ...

Shopping Trolley
* Power-tools
CUMI power tools
METABO Power Tools * Industrial Ceramics
CUMI Industrial Ceramics Products
* Electro Minerals
CUMI Electro Mineral Products
*

Abrasives An abrasive is a material, often a mineral, that is used to shape or finish a workpiece through rubbing which leads to part of the workpiece being worn away by friction. While finishing a material often means polishing it to gain a smooth, reflec ...

CUMI Abrasive products
- Thin Wheels, Rolls, Grinding Wheels, Non Woven Wheels, Coated Abrasives, Porous Tiles, Super Abrasives, Resonoid And Rubber, Vitrified Ranges * Metal Working Fluids - Cleaner, Forming fluids, Neat Oils, Rust Preventives, Water Solubles. * Strapping Tools - Tensioner, Sealer. * Super Refractories products - Fired Refractories, Monolithic Products Most of the products are granted CE and GS certificates.

Major divisions

The major divisions are: *

** Coated Abrasives ** Bonded Abrasives * Electrominerals *

Ceramics A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...

** Industrial Ceramics ** Super Refractories * CUMI DIRECT direct - Online E commerce Platform ** Ware house Equipment **

** Power-tools ** Industrial Ceramics ** Electro Minerals **

** Metal Working Fluids ** Strapping Tools ** Super Refractories products

Product applications and materials

The range of applications of different divisions like material removal,

polishing Polishing is the process of creating a smooth and shiny surface by rubbing it or by applying a chemical treatment, leaving a clean surface with a significant specular reflection (still limited by the index of refraction of the material accordin ...

the rough surface, fine finishing by the Abrasives division, wear resistant, heat resistant, liners and metallized ceramics by the Ceramics division, heat resistant, containment products from Super refractories division and the raw materials for abrasives and refractories by the Electrominerals division. *Abrasives ** Coated Abrasives ** Bonded Abrasives ** Processed Cloth ** Polymer Resin **

Metal Working Metalworking is the process of shaping and reshaping metals to create useful objects, parts, assemblies, and large scale structures. As a term it covers a wide and diverse range of processes, skills, and tools for producing objects on every scale ...

Fluids *Ceramics ** High Alumina ** Reaction bonded Silicon Carbide(RbSiC) ** Yttria partially stabilized Zirconia(YPSZ) ** Sintered Silicon Carbide **

Zirconia Zirconium dioxide (), sometimes known as zirconia (not to be confused with zircon), is a white crystalline oxide of zirconium. Its most naturally occurring form, with a monoclinic crystalline structure, is the mineral baddeleyite. A dopant stabi ...

** Al-Titanate ** MgO-Partially stabilized Zirconia(MgPSZ) *Electrominerals ** Brown Fused Aluminum Oxide ** White Fused Aluminum Oxide ** Calcia Stabilized Zirconia ** Ziconia Mullite ** Alumina Bubble **

Silicon Carbide Silicon carbide (SiC), also known as carborundum (), is a hard chemical compound containing silicon and carbon. A semiconductor, it occurs in nature as the extremely rare mineral moissanite, but has been mass-produced as a powder and crystal sin ...

Calcined Calcination refers to thermal treatment of a solid chemical compound (e.g. mixed carbonate ores) whereby the compound is raised to high temperature without melting under restricted supply of ambient oxygen (i.e. gaseous O2 fraction of air), genera ...

*Agri Input products ** CUMIjal

Joint ventures

* Wendt (India) Limited * Murugappa Morgan Thermal Ceramics Ltd. * Ciria India Limited

Subsidiaries

* CUMI Abrasives and Ceramics China Limited (CACCL) * CUMI America Inc. * CUMI Australia Pty. Ltd. (CAPL) * CUMI Canada Inc. * CUMI International Limited, Cyprus * CUMI Middle East-RAK * Cellaris Refractories India Limite * Foskor Zirconia Pty Ltd-South Africa * Net Access India Limited * Southern Energy Development Corporation Limited (SEDCO) * Sterling Abrasives Limited-Ahmedabad * Pluss Advanced Technologies * Volzhsky Abrasive Works-Russia