Producer
Carborundum Universal Limited (CUMI)
Carborundum Universal Limited (CUMI), part of the 125-year-old Murugappa Group, was established in 1954 as a tripartite joint venture. Listed on NSE and BSE. CUMI is India's largest abrasive grain and materials science company, and self-described as the "2nd Largest producer of Silicon Carbide worldwide." Operates the Silicon Carbide production unit at Koratty, Kerala (commissioned 1984, micro-grit plant added 1988), plus additional SiC processing at Hosur, Tamil Nadu. Also produces fused alumina, superabrasives, and advanced ceramics. International presence via CUMI America and Russia operations.
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Abrasives (Bonded & Coated)
40%Electrominerals (Fused Minerals)
30%Industrial & Engineering Ceramics
20%Electro-Mechanical & Other
10%
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Origin2022
CUMI (Carborundum Universal Limited), part of the Murugappa Group, was founded in 1954 as a three-way international joint venture between Murugappa (Indian conglomerate), The Carborundum Company of America (now part of Saint-Gobain), and the Universal Grinding Wheel Company of the UK. The name is literally the initials of these three founding entities. This Cold War-era technology transfer deal gave India access to abrasives manufacturing technology that had been developed in the US and UK since the 1890s. Over decades, CUMI's Indian partners progressively bought out their Western partners and the company became majority Indian-controlled while expanding globally — acquiring Volzhsky Abrasive Works in Russia (one of the USSR's largest SiC producers, built in the Soviet era), operations in South Africa, and manufacturing in Australia. The Russia-Ukraine war created a novel geopolitical problem for CUMI: it is an Indian company listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange that owns a significant Russian industrial asset supplying European markets, caught between Western sanctions pressure, Indian neutrality policy, and commercial obligations to European customers who could no longer easily replace Russian SiC supply.
CUMI - Carborundum Universal Limited ↗Did you know2022
CUMI's engineering ceramics division manufactures high-purity alumina ceramics used in semiconductor fab equipment — the same ceramic material used for electrostatic chucks, focus rings, and chamber liners inside CVD and etch equipment. Semiconductor fabs require ceramic components that can withstand corrosive plasma chemistries (fluorine, chlorine) at high temperatures while maintaining dimensional precision at micrometer tolerances. CUMI competes for this market with Kyocera, CoorsTek, and Coorstek's Morgan Advanced Materials. An Indian company whose public identity is grinding wheels and sandpaper is thus also a supplier to TSMC-tier semiconductor equipment — the ceramics from CUMI's manufacturing plants in India and South Korea are inside the machines that make the world's most advanced chips.
CUMI - Carborundum Universal Limited ↗