Flooring Materials by Region in India: Kota, Granite, Athangudi, Red Oxide and Tiles

For most Indian houses, choose the floor room by room, then check it against your climate. Vitrified tile with low water absorption is the safe default for kitchens and bathrooms, in a matt or anti-skid finish where floors get wet. Regional stone such as Kota or granite, terrazzo, red oxide or Athangudi tiles suit living rooms and verandahs. Rough or textured stone suits steps and outdoor paving. Wood and laminate work only where the base stays dry.

The short answer, room by room

Two questions decide most floors: will the room get wet or oily, and how humid is the air where you live?

For the bigger picture of walls and roofs by climate, see our guide to building materials by climate and region. Wet-area floors also depend on what is underneath them, which our waterproofing guide covers.

Vitrified and ceramic tiles: what IS 15622 tells you

Ceramic and vitrified floor tiles fall under IS 15622, the standard for pressed ceramic tiles. The standard sorts tiles by water absorption, the percentage of its own weight a tile soaks up. The lower the figure, the denser and stronger the tile. The 2006 edition, the one we could open, sets these groups:

The standard does not use the word "vitrified". CPWD does: its Delhi Schedule of Rates describes vitrified floor tiles as tiles "with water absorption less than 0.08%" conforming to IS 15622, which is the B Ia group above. The most porous group, B III, needs a breaking strength of only 200 to 500 N, against 1,500 N for a thick B Ia tile, so in our reading it belongs on walls rather than floors.

BIS revised the standard in 2017; that edition is paid, but its BIS product manual (2019) shows five water absorption groups (B Ia, B Ib, B IIa, B IIb and B III), finish classes for polished, semi-polished and unpolished tiles, and one change that matters for safety: for tiles meant for floors, the maker must test and declare a coefficient of friction. The percentages above are the 2006 values.

How to judge any tile: check the box for the group (for example B Ia) and the batch or date of manufacture, which the 2006 edition requires. Ask for the BIS licence number and, for wet areas, the declared coefficient of friction.

Natural stone, in brief

India's stone floors are regional: Kota limestone from Rajasthan, granite, marble such as Makrana, and local limestones such as Tandur and Shahabad in the Deccan. Our Rajasthan materials guide covers Kota and sandstone, and the Hyderabad guide covers Tandur, Shahabad and granite.

For a floor, the finish matters more than the stone; CPWD prices granite both polished and flamed. Guidance: keep polished stone for dry rooms, and use flamed, rough or honed faces on steps, verandahs and anywhere near water.

See The Heirloom House on MOA: one grey slab floor runs from the living room to a covered verandah.

Red oxide: the poured floor of the south and west coast

Red oxide is not a tile. It is a cement or lime topping coloured with red iron oxide and polished by hand. The Better India (Vidya Raja, January 2020) profiles a Chennai architect reviving the craft, known in Tamil as kaaviyidal. It describes oxide applied with lime, mud or cement, about 15 to 21 days of continuous work, a hand-applied beeswax polish, and the need for good-quality oxide, experienced artisans and untreated water. Non-chemical cleaners are recommended.

The pigment is standardised: the terrazzo code IS 2114 and the tile standard IS 1237:2012 both specify red iron oxide to IS 44. Because an oxide floor is an in-situ cement finish, IS 2571:1970, the code for laying cement concrete floors, is the closest guide. It asks for:

• panels no longer than 2 m when the finish is laid on a hardened base, and smaller panels in hot, dry or exposed places, to control cracking;
• at least 15 days of continuous wet curing, with regular traffic only after 28 days;
• care with oils: concrete flooring is "slowly attacked" by acids, vegetable oils and fats.

Guidance: red oxide suits living rooms, bedrooms and shaded verandahs in hot and humid regions. Keep it away from the cooking zone and out of showers.

Terrazzo: the marble-chip floor

Terrazzo is marble chips set in cement and ground smooth; CPWD calls it "marble chips flooring". It comes two ways.

Laid in place. IS 2114:1984 calls for marble chips of 1 to 25 mm, a combined underlayer and topping of at least 30 mm, and panels whose longer side does not exceed 2 m. Dividing strips of glass, brass, aluminium or plastic must be at least 1.5 mm thick and 25 mm wide.

As factory tiles. IS 1237:2012 defines a terrazzo tile as one whose wearing surface is at least 25% stone chips. It caps average water absorption at 10% and sets two classes: general purpose tiles for homes, and heavy duty tiles for steps, ramps and entrances, marked "H" on the back.

On maintenance, IS 2114 is blunt: wash with water and occasionally dilute oxalic acid, and never use soap, because it "tends to make the terrazzo dangerously slippery". It says excessive polishing has the same effect.

Athangudi tiles, briefly

Athangudi tiles are handmade cement tiles from the Chettinad region of Tamil Nadu. The Federal (Shailaja Tripathi, December 2025) reports about 100 units in Athangudi, each tile taking 8 to 18 days, with air curing, a water bath of more than three days and then sun drying. An architect quoted there says the sheen improves with use; an artisan warns that some factories rush the drying and curing, which weakens the tiles.

Guidance: ask the maker how long the batch was cured, use the tiles in living rooms, puja rooms and sheltered verandahs, and choose tile or stone for showers.

Wood, laminate and the humidity question

Wood is where region matters most. IS 287:1993 divides India into four zones by average annual relative humidity and sets the maximum moisture content for flooring strips in each: 8% in Zone I (under 40%), 10% in Zones II and III (40 to 67%) and 12% in Zone IV (over 67%). The standard describes its range as running from very hot, dry climates to the coast of South India, where it is "almost always hot and moist". Its foreword adds that seasonal changes in the moisture content of wood occur mostly in Zones II and III, where a hot, dry summer is abruptly followed by a wet rainy season, and that timber shrinks on drying, opening gaps between planks.

The Telangana schedule describes laminate as a multi-layer synthetic product with a high-density fibreboard core, and engineered wood as a 3 to 4 mm hardwood top layer over a wooden base. Guidance: on a ground floor or in Zone IV, check the slab is dry and damp-proofed before wood or laminate goes down, and ask for the moisture content of solid wood. For monsoon homes, our Kerala guide explains why the plinth matters more than the floor finish.

Slip safety and maintenance

What the codes we opened say about slip:

• IS 2571: a highly polished cement floor "is likely to be slippery", a trowel finish is "reasonably non-slip", and ramps and stairs likely to get wet should be finished in a chequered pattern.
• IS 2114: soap and excessive polishing make terrazzo slippery.
• IS 15622:2017: floor tiles carry a declared coefficient of friction, set by the maker, not a single national minimum.

We could not open a free copy of the National Building Code's flooring clauses, so we quote no NBC slip value. Guidance: use matt or anti-skid tile in bathrooms and wash areas, textured treads at the edge of every step, and a mat at each door that faces the rain.

Everyday care: keep tile grout sound, clean terrazzo with water and occasional oxalic acid, and wipe spills off wood and laminate quickly.

Indicative prices from the schedules of rates

CPWD has no red oxide floor item; it lists red oxide pigment at ₹65 per kg as a basic material rate and a plain 40 mm cement concrete floor at ₹614.20 per sq m. For laid costs in your area, ask your state PWD for its current Schedule of Rates, and compare dated written quotes that state the tile group, thickness, GST and BIS licence. To see how floors fit a whole interiors budget, read our room-by-room interior cost guide.

Mistakes to avoid

• A polished tile or stone in a bathroom, wash area or rain-facing step.
• Cleaning terrazzo or oxide floors with soap or harsh chemicals.
• Laying wood or laminate on a damp ground-floor slab, or in a humid coastal house without a damp-proofed base.

FAQ

Which flooring is best for a house in India?

There is no single best floor. Match the finish to how wet the room gets, and the material to how humid your region is: tile in wet rooms, regional stone, terrazzo or oxide in living areas, rough stone outdoors.

Is vitrified tile better than granite for flooring?

They do different jobs. Vitrified tile is uniform, has very low water absorption (0.08% or less in the 2006 IS 15622 group CPWD specifies) and costs less to lay in the CPWD schedule. Granite is natural stone and, in the same schedule, about twice the laid cost. For wet areas, the finish (matt or flamed) matters more than the material.

Which tiles are best for bathroom floors?

Matt or anti-skid vitrified or ceramic tiles. Under IS 15622:2017, floor tiles carry a coefficient of friction declared by the maker, so ask for that value and the test method.

Is red oxide flooring good for homes?

Yes, in living rooms, bedrooms and shaded verandahs, if experienced artisans lay it and it is cured properly. Keep it away from cooking oils and showers, and clean it without harsh chemicals.

Choose floors with someone who knows the site. An architect can match each floor to the room, the climate and your budget. Consult an architect on MOA, or browse finished homes on MOA's project gallery.

Sources

• Bureau of Indian Standards: IS 15622:2006, Pressed Ceramic Tiles: Specification, via Public.Resource.Org (accessed 18 Oct 2026)
• Bureau of Indian Standards: Product Manual for Pressed Ceramic Tiles according to IS 15622:2017 (PM/IS 15622/1, September 2019) (accessed 18 Oct 2026)
• Bureau of Indian Standards: IS 1237:2012, Cement Concrete Flooring Tiles: Specification, via Public.Resource.Org (accessed 18 Oct 2026)
• Bureau of Indian Standards: IS 2114:1984, Code of Practice for Laying In-situ Terrazzo Floor Finish, via Public.Resource.Org (accessed 18 Oct 2026)
• Bureau of Indian Standards: IS 2571:1970, Code of Practice for Laying In-situ Cement Concrete Flooring, via Public.Resource.Org (accessed 18 Oct 2026)
• Bureau of Indian Standards: IS 287:1993, Permissible Moisture Content for Timber Used for Different Purposes, via Public.Resource.Org (accessed 18 Oct 2026)
• Central Public Works Department: Delhi Schedule of Rates 2023, Volume 1 (accessed 18 Oct 2026)
• Government of Telangana: Common Schedule of Rates 2026-27 (accessed 18 Oct 2026)
• The Better India: Vidya Raja, on reviving red oxide flooring (January 2020) (accessed 18 Oct 2026)
• The Federal: How the centuries-old tradition of Tamil Nadu's Athangudi tiles is finding a place in modern homes (accessed 18 Oct 2026)