Pioneering firm Bramco has seen itself grow over the past 26 years from a Bahrain-based limestone quarry operator to a diversified group with operations extending beyond the Gulf to India and the US.

Its quarrying activities have expanded downstream and upstream and today the company boasts of having carried out intricate stone work and cladding for prestigious projects, ranging from palaces and hotels in the Gulf to religious edifices in the US.
 “We are a one-stop stone shop – you dream it we achieve it,” says Vinay Dewan, the architect of the Bramco empire.
“Using sophisticated machines and local skills we produce some of the most exotic patterns in marble and granite such as those seen at the Sultan Qaboos Mosque in Muscat, Oman,” continues Dewan, chairman and chief executive of the Bramco Group. “This project not only earned us the personal appreciation of His Majesty but we also received an award from the Marble Institute of America – the highest award one can receive in the stone industry.”
In Oman it is currently working on a palace project for Sultan Qaboos, among other projects. It is also busy with a number of projects in Qatar including hotels and commercial buildings.
In Bahrain, it has done a number of projects in the hospitality sector and has carried out work for the Radisson SAS (lobby and restaurants) and Sheraton Hotel (cladding of columns in the lobby), six cinemas at the Seef Mall and the Bahrain Islamic Bank.
In Saudi Arabia, the company has carried out a number of projects for the royal family and prestigious hotels and other developments in Riyadh and Al Khobar.
Outside the Gulf, the US has proved to be a very receptive market for the intricate work that Bramco offers, and Dewan’s daughter Kanika, a graduate from Wharton USA, spearheads the operations there. 
A niche market that it has secured in the US is religious buildings where its carving work using stone and reconstituted stone has been used in projects including a mosque in New York, a church and the Venkateshwara and Swaminarayan temples (all in New Jersey), as well as in restoration work on buildings owned by US business magnate Donald Trump.  Architects have also picked Bramco for its excellence in mosaic work and water jet patterns for projects including the Marriott Hotel in New Jersey.
Most of these works were carried out in Bahrain and then exported to the US.
“Designers and architects, especially in the US, feel they get value for money. Labour and energy costs are relatively low in Bahrain, making the country the ideal location to carry out stonework using sophisticated machinery with the best of Asian and Middle Eastern skills,” Dewan points out.
He continues: “With the free trade agreement between Bahrain and the US, our products will become more competitive and we are optimistic of a larger turnover in the US.”
Bramco has set up stone fabrication facilities in Oman and Qatar (Natural Stone Company) as well as in the US (Natural Stone Depot).
Reaching the top rung in the stone industry has required Bramco to invest a great deal of money in some of the most sophisticated machinery in the industry.
“Our marble and granite processing facilities are one of the most comprehensive in the world and cover a 50,000 sq m area in Askar,” says Dewan confidently.  “Even in Italy, you will not find so many machines all under one roof.
“We are equipped with one machine of every kind to do everything that the stone fabrication sector requires: auto carving machines for columns and other architectural features; one of the largest water jet cutting machines for inlay patterns; multi-axis robotic stone master wire saw from Pellegrini (Italy), which can cut any shape; different types of surface finishing machines: bush hammering, granite flaming, auto sand blasting machine to etch with garnet and water; laser etching; 10 types of saws including multiblade gang saw;  and polishing lines.”
Bramco provides a complete range of products from selected stones cut to specifications, to intricate water jet patterns, external claddings, worktops, furniture, mosaics, tumbled stones and cobble stones.
It specialises in floor designs, columns and bases and custom-made staircases, balustrades, featured panels for walls and floors, counter and vanity tops, carved parapets, fluted columns, exquisite fireplaces and furniture.
Among the company’s many innovations is a proprietary product which it developed two years ago: lightweight marble with honeycomb backing which comprises 4-mm-thick marble slabs that are cut using special diamond saws.
Bramco developed this product primarily with the hotel sector in mind.
“We can renovate a hotel bathroom within 48 hours,” guarantees Dewan.
The company procures raw materials from Saudi Arabia, Oman, Iran, India, Pakistan, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Turkey to ensure that it can compete effectively with its European rivals.
In addition it has three of its own granite and marble quarries in India and shares production in a quarry in Norway while also having alliances with quarries in Saudi Arabia.
Bramco is now negotiating with the government of Oman for rights to a special quarry for producing pure white marble.
These are in addition to its limestone quarries in Bahrain (which has a capacity of 4 million tonnes per year) and in Oman (1.2 million tonnes per year).
Bramco is also active in the fields of limestone crushing, specialised blasting and demolition, excavation, land reclamation, slope protection and landscaping, steel manufacture, corrosion protection as well as metallurgy and downstream aluminium industries.
Among the earliest projects handled by Bramco was the Bahrain-Saudi Causeway.  Since then, it has been involved in other reclamation jobs including the second and third Muharraq Crossing and the Hidd Port and Industrial Area and more recently Bahrain’s showpiece Formula One Racing Circuit.
“The F1 circuit involved some one million cu m of excavation and filling work for the preparation of the tunnels and the base of the track.  We had around 100 pieces of equipment working round-the-clock and a mobile crusher on site,” says Dewan.
In the earthmoving sector, Bramco is one of the strongest in the Middle East especially in blasting and excavation activities.
The company has a limestone crushing capacity of 600 tonnes per hour (tph) and 300 tph in Bahrain and Oman, respectively. It also owns mobile crushers and screens.
To increase market awareness of its products and services, Bramco exhibits at leading regional and international shows – it is now gearing up to promote itself at the Tile and Stone Show in New York next month (July 15-17).