What is a sodium silicate project report?
A sodium silicate project report is a detailed project report (DPR) for a plant that fuses silica sand with soda ash and dissolves the glass into liquid water glass. It sets out the process, furnace and dissolver, raw materials, buyers, project cost, means of finance, five-year projections, DSCR and break-even.
Promoters use it to size the furnace and raise a term loan; banks use it to judge whether fuel, soda ash prices and freight leave enough margin to repay.
Also known as: project report on sodium silicate, sodium silicate business plan, water glass plant project report, liquid sodium silicate DPR.
Sodium silicate manufacturing plant cost in India
Our sample report models a furnace plant making 26 metric tonnes of liquid sodium silicate per day, or 8,580 MT per year at full capacity. It runs 330 days a year, starts at 60% utilisation and reaches 80% in Year 5, selling at ₹13,700 per MT ex-factory.
Indicatively, a unit that only dissolves bought-in silicate glass can start below ₹1.5 crore. A 20–40 MT per day furnace plant needs about ₹3–6 crore, and plants of 100 MT per day or more run well above ₹12 crore.
| Land and site development | 28.02 |
|---|---|
| Building and civil works | 81.78 |
| Plant and machinery | 181.86 |
| Other fixed assets | 31.48 |
| Contingencies | 13.18 |
| Preliminary and pre-operative | 8.41 |
| Working capital margin | 27.14 |
| Total | 371.87 |
| Promoter's contribution (25%) | 92.97 |
|---|---|
| Term loan from bank (75%) | 278.90 |
| Cash credit limit (separate) | 81.42 |
| Total project cost | 371.87 |
Sample figures are illustrative; term loan at 10.5% with a 6-month moratorium and 54 monthly instalments. Other ranges are indicative and vary with site, fuel and furnace design.
Sodium silicate manufacturing process
In the furnace route, which our sample uses, sand and soda ash are melted into a glass. The glass is then dissolved into the liquid that buyers call water glass.
- Batch preparation
Dried silica sand and dense soda ash are weighed to the recipe for the target ratio and mixed in a closed batch house fitted with a dust collector.
- Melting
The batch is charged into a tank furnace and fused at about 1,200–1,400°C. Each tonne of soda ash gives off about 415 kg of carbon dioxide as it reacts.
- Tapping and cooling
Molten glass flows out continuously and is cooled into lumps, called cullet, or quenched and crushed for faster dissolving.
- Dissolving
Cullet is dissolved in hot water with live steam in a rotary pressure dissolver, which takes far less time than open tanks.
- Clarification
The solution is settled and filtered to remove unmelted sand and insoluble matter that would cloud the product.
- Adjustment and testing
Density, usually around 40° Baumé, ratio and viscosity are tested and corrected with water or caustic soda.
- Storage and dispatch
Liquid silicate is held in mild steel tanks and sent out in road tankers, drums or IBCs.
Furnace, hydrothermal or rice husk ash: which route to choose
The route decides the grades you can sell, your fuel bill and how much you spend on alkali. Our sample report is built on the furnace route.
| Point | Furnace (soda ash) | Hydrothermal (caustic soda) | Rice husk ash |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main inputs | Silica sand, soda ash | Silica sand, caustic soda, steam | Rice husk ash, caustic soda |
| Grades | Full range, alkaline to neutral | Mainly lower-ratio, alkaline grades | Mainly alkaline grades; colour depends on ash quality |
| Investment | Highest: furnace, regenerators, stack | Lower: pressure reactor and boiler | Lower, similar to hydrothermal |
| Main running cost | Furnace fuel and refractory relining | Caustic soda, which costs more per unit of soda than soda ash | Caustic soda and ash collection |
| Suits | Plants of 20 MT per day and above selling many grades | Smaller units near detergent buyers | Units in rice milling belts with a steady ash source |
Raw materials for sodium silicate
Soda ash drives cost: in our sample it is 80% of raw material spend, and raw materials take 52.2% of sales. Sand is cheap but its purity matters, since iron above a trace tints the glass green and limits sales to paper and detergent buyers.
| Raw material | Share of cost | Year 3 (₹ lakh) |
|---|---|---|
| Dense soda ash | 80% | 343.30 |
| Washed silica sand | 14% | 60.08 |
| Caustic soda lye for ratio adjustment | 6% | 25.75 |
| Total | 100% | 429.13 |
Year 3 purchases at 70% utilisation in our illustrative sample. Soda ash prices move with the market, so a full report tests a price rise.
Machinery for a sodium silicate plant
The tank furnace is the largest single item at about a third of machinery cost. Its refractory lining wears out and needs periodic relining, which a report should budget for.
| Machine | What it does | Sample cost (₹ lakh) |
|---|---|---|
| Regenerative glass tank furnace | Melts the batch; regenerators reuse waste heat | 61.83 |
| Batch weighing, mixing and charging | Doses sand and soda ash to the recipe | 18.19 |
| Rotary steam dissolver | Dissolves cullet under steam pressure | 25.46 |
| Steam boiler | Supplies steam to the dissolver | 18.18 |
| Burner and fuel firing system | Fires gas or oil into the furnace | 14.55 |
| Settling tanks and filter press | Clarify the solution | 14.55 |
| Storage tanks and transfer pumps | Hold and move finished liquid | 16.37 |
| Stack and dust collection | Vent flue gas and capture batch dust | 12.73 |
| Total plant and machinery | 181.86 | |
Costs are the sample report's estimates for a 26 MT per day plant. Get current quotations before you finalise.
Fuel, utilities and manpower
A furnace runs round the clock once lit, because cooling and reheating damage the refractory. Plan fuel supply, power backup and three shifts from day one.
| Furnace fuel | Natural gas, LPG or furnace oil, chosen by local availability and price; it is the main conversion cost after raw materials |
|---|---|
| Steam | From an on-site boiler for the rotary dissolver |
| Power and fuel in our sample | ₹69.21 lakh in Year 3, 8.4% of sales |
| Water | Clean water for dissolving; it ends up as more than half the weight of the product |
| Manpower in our sample | 27 people: 4 in management and supervision, 9 skilled operators, 14 semi-skilled and unskilled workers |
Licences and standards for a sodium silicate plant
| Business registration | Udyam (MSME) registration and GST registration |
|---|---|
| Pollution board consent | Consent to establish and operate from the State Pollution Control Board for a fuel-fired furnace with a stack; the category is set by the state board |
| Steam boiler | Registration under the Boilers Act, 2025 before use; it covers steam-raising vessels of 25 litres and above |
| Product standard | IS 381:2024, the BIS specification for sodium silicate, is the usual quality reference; no Quality Control Order applies to sodium silicate as of October 2026 |
| GST and HSN | Heading 2839 (silicates); 18% under the Chapter 28 entry of the September 2025 rate schedule |
| Factory and fire | Factory licence and fire NOC under state rules |
Who buys sodium silicate
Sodium silicate is an industrial input, so you sell to factories that reorder every month rather than to retail. Detergent and soap makers use alkaline grades as a builder. Corrugated box and paper tube units use it as an adhesive, and foundries use it to bind sand moulds hardened with CO2 gas.
- Detergent and soap manufacturers
- Corrugated box and paper tube makers
- Foundries using the CO2 sand process
- Precipitated silica and silica gel producers
- Construction chemical and textile processing units
- Chemical traders and distributors
Freight sets your market: liquid silicate is mostly water, so hauling it far eats the margin. Plants usually sell within a few hundred kilometres, and a site close to a detergent or paper cluster is worth more than a cheaper plot far away.
Mistakes that weaken a sodium silicate project report
- Pricing liquid and solid output the same way
Liquid silicate is sold with its water content; mixing up liquid, glass and solids basis makes revenue look far higher than it is.
- Forgetting the weight lost as CO2
Soda ash loses about 41% of its weight as gas in the furnace, so glass output is well below the batch weight charged.
- No plan for furnace relining or stoppage
Refractory wear forces a shutdown every few years; the report should cover its cost and the lost output.
- Ignoring freight in pricing
An ex-factory price that ignores delivered cost to buyers 300 km away overstates sales.
- One grade for every buyer
Detergent, paper and foundry buyers want different ratios; a plan that sells one grade to all of them overstates demand.
How NPCS helps you set up a sodium silicate plant
- Route and capacityChoose furnace, hydrothermal or rice husk ash, and a furnace size that fits your buyers.
- Grade and market planMatch ratios and densities to detergent, paper and foundry buyers in your freight radius.
- Bank-ready project reportProjections, DSCR, fuel and soda ash sensitivity in the format your lender asks for.
- Machinery, layout and approvalsFurnace, dissolver and boiler quotations, plant layout and the approvals list for your state.
NPCS, led by founder Ajay Kumar Gupta, has prepared project reports for chemical plants since 1994. Its client list shows 269 assignments in specialty chemicals, 2 of them for sodium silicate.
What's inside the sodium silicate sample report
- Introduction
- Uses and applications
- Market potential
- Manufacturing process
- Raw materials
- Plant and machinery
- Land, building and utilities
- Manpower
- Licences and approvals
- Project cost and means of finance
- Working capital
- Projected profitability
- Cash flow statement
- Projected balance sheet
- Depreciation
- Term loan repayment
- Debt service coverage
- Break-even analysis
- Financial ratios
- Key assumptions
- Conclusion
- Monthly loan repayment schedule
18 pages, five-year projections, illustrative figures.
Open sample reportFree sample or a report for your project?
| What you get | Free sample | NPCS report for your project |
|---|---|---|
| Capacity and location | Typical unit | Your capacity, site and state |
| Figures | Illustrative | Built on current prices and quotations |
| Machinery suppliers and quotations | No | Yes |
| Market survey for your region | No | Yes |
| Bank or scheme format (PMEGP, term loan) | No | Yes |
| Use for a loan application | No | Yes |
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Sodium Silicate project report: frequently asked questions
What is the cost of a sodium silicate manufacturing plant in India?
A furnace plant making 20–40 MT of liquid silicate a day needs roughly ₹3–6 crore, including land, building and working capital margin. A unit that only dissolves bought-in glass costs far less. Our sample report models a 26 MT per day plant at ₹371.87 lakh. These are indicative figures; a project report works out the cost for your site, fuel and capacity.
What raw materials are used to make sodium silicate?
Silica sand and dense soda ash are the two main inputs, with caustic soda used to fine-tune the ratio. In our sample report soda ash makes up 80% of raw material cost, sand 14% and caustic lye 6%. Sand must be low in iron, because iron colours the glass and many buyers reject tinted silicate.
What is the difference between alkaline and neutral sodium silicate?
The grade is set by the weight ratio of silica to soda (SiO2 to Na2O). Commercial liquid grades run from about 1.8 to 3.75. Lower ratios are more alkaline and suit detergents and cleaners; higher ratios, such as the 3.2 grade common in water treatment, suit adhesives, foundries and silica production. A plant chooses its batch recipe to match the grades its buyers order.
Which process is better for a new sodium silicate unit, furnace or hydrothermal?
The furnace route fuses sand with soda ash at about 1,200–1,400°C. It gives the full range of ratios and the lowest raw material cost, but needs more investment and steady fuel. The hydrothermal route reacts sand with caustic soda under steam pressure; it costs less to build but makes mainly lower-ratio grades and pays more for alkali.
Is sodium silicate manufacturing profitable?
In our illustrative sample, a 26 MT per day plant earns a 17.1% return on investment in Year 3 and breaks even at 45.9% of capacity. It pays back in about 4.1 years, with an average DSCR of 1.57. Real profit depends on soda ash buying, furnace fuel efficiency, freight to buyers and how full the furnace runs.
What is the HSN code and GST rate for sodium silicate?
Sodium silicate falls under HSN heading 2839, silicates, with liquid water glass usually under 2839 19. Inorganic chemicals of Chapter 28 not listed elsewhere carry GST at 18% under the rate schedule notified by CBIC in September 2025. Check the current notification and your exact sub-heading with your tax adviser before invoicing.
Is the sodium silicate project report PDF free, and can I use it for a bank loan?
The sample is free to view and download. It is an illustrative report that shows the format and depth of an NPCS report. Its figures are representative and not based on a real project, so do not submit it to a bank. For a loan, NPCS prepares a report for your own capacity, site and lender.
Sources and references
- IS 381:2024 Sodium silicate, specification (third revision)Bureau of Indian Standards, checked Oct 2026
- Chemicals quality control ordersDepartment of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, Government of India, checked Oct 2026
- Notification No. 9/2025-Integrated Tax (Rate)Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, checked Oct 2026
- The Boilers Act, 2025 (Act No. 12 of 2025)India Code, Ministry of Law and Justice, checked Oct 2026
- Project profile: Sodium silicate (2003)Office of the Development Commissioner (MSME), checked Oct 2026
- Sodium silicate supply chain profile (EPA 817-F-22-049, Dec 2022)United States Environmental Protection Agency, checked Oct 2026
The NPCS project team, led by Ajay Kumar Gupta
This page and its sample report are prepared and reviewed by the NPCS project team, which has written techno-economic feasibility studies and detailed project reports since 1994.
Ajay Kumar Gupta founded Niir Project Consultancy Services (NPCS) and leads the organisation. With 40 years of experience in MSME project consulting, he has built the team that has delivered more than 28,000 project reports for clients worldwide, helping entrepreneurs plan and finance profitable manufacturing businesses.
- Published
- Last updated
- Next review
- Oct 2027
- Reviewed by
- NPCS project team
This page is reviewed every 12 months, or sooner when scheme limits, GST rates, BIS rules or pollution categories change. The sample report is illustrative: its figures are generated from industry-typical ratios for a unit of this size, checked so every statement balances, and are not taken from any client project.