How much electricity can a vitrified tile polishing line save?

About a quarter, in BEE's Morbi report. Replacing the motors on one plant's grinding, calibration, polishing and sizing machines cut the line from 2,108,808 to 1,605,900 kWh a year: 502,908 kWh, roughly 340 t CO2 on today's grid. Cost Rs 25.79 lakh, payback 1.26 years at 2010 prices.

What the auditors found on the line

• Seven machines with 971 kW connected drew only 501 kW on average, so most motors ran below half load.
• Average motor efficiency was about 70%; the replacement motors were rated at 86.4%.
• The line ran 24 hours a day, 250 days a year, and used 1.37 to 2.28 kWh per square metre of tile across the units audited.
• Motors cost Rs 20.21 lakh of the Rs 25.79 lakh total. Procurement and fitting: 4 weeks, done on days the line is idle.

Where the saving comes from, machine by machine

• Polishing 2 (100 kW measured on 174 kW): 117,387 kWh a year.
• Polishing 1 (51 kW on 174 kW): 94,932 kWh.
• Rough grinding (46 kW on 97 kW): 70,042 kWh.
• Polishing 3 (130 kW on 174 kW): 70,581 kWh.
• Calibration 1 and 2: 61,177 and 38,986 kWh.
• Sizing (93 kW on 115 kW, the best loaded): 49,803 kWh.

Why the report's 402 t CO2 is high

The report used an older grid factor of about 0.8 kg per kWh. On CEA's FY 2025-26 factor of 0.675, the same 502,908 kWh is about 339 t of CO2 a year. The kWh saving is the solid number; the CO2 follows the grid year you report.

Before you order motors

• Log each machine's actual kW for a full shift with a clamp meter. Lightly loaded motors gain most; a well loaded one may not pay back.
• Check whether a smaller motor, not only a more efficient one, fits each machine.
• Fit a sub-meter on the polishing line first, so the before and after kWh come from the same meter.
• Report kWh per square metre polished each month, not just total kWh, so a change in output does not hide the saving.

One plant's polishing line for a year

• Before: 2,108,808 kWh x 0.675 = 1,423 t CO2
• After: 1,605,900 kWh x 0.675 = 1,084 t CO2
• Saved: 502,908 kWh, about 339 t CO2
• At about 5,929 m2 a day for 250 days: roughly 1.42 kWh per m2 down to 1.08 (estimate)

Grid factor from CEA's database for FY 2025-26, an estimate. The square metre figures assume the report's suitable plant size; use your own output.

What Senseible does here

Senseible reads each electricity bill and gives monthly kWh and CO2 with the grid factor for that bill's year, so a drop after the motor change shows up in your records. The green loan check shows what a lender will ask for before funding it.

• Green loan readiness check
• Polishing line share of a tile's footprint
• BEE star rated induction motors
• Measuring savings from an efficiency project

Sources: BEE, Detailed project report: energy conservation in polishing section, Morbi ceramic cluster (2010, SAMEEEKSHA), CEA, CO2 Baseline Database for the Indian Power Sector, version 22.0 (FY 2025-26 grid factor)

Last reviewed 2026-10-31. Equipment figures are from a BEE SME programme project report; costs and paybacks are at that report's prices. Recheck with today's fuel and power prices and a current quote.