Kitchen Platform Design: Granite, Quartz, Height and Sink

A good kitchen platform design in India starts with four numbers: a finished height of about 850 to 900 mm, set from the main cook's elbow; a depth of about 600 to 650 mm with the stone overhanging the shutters by 20 to 25 mm; a 100 mm upstand where it meets the wall; and hob and sink holes cut to the appliance maker's template, at least 50 to 100 mm from every edge. Granite is still the safest all-rounder beside an Indian gas hob, and CPWD's schedule prices an 18 mm granite platform at ₹3,848.70 per sq m laid, about ₹358 per sq ft or roughly ₹715 per running foot at 2 ft deep.

About the numbers below: sizes and clearances come from makers' manuals and guides we opened on 22 Oct 2026 (Bosch, Kaff, IKEA, Blum, EGGER, Schüller, Faber). They are makers' recommendations, not Indian law; we found no Indian code that fixes a kitchen platform height. Government rates are from the CPWD Delhi Schedule of Rates 2023 (Delhi prices, GST on works at 18% included), a rate book, not a shop quote. The per sq ft ranges in the price section are a market range from two firms' published 2026 figures, named there. "Our guidance" marks MOA's own professional judgement.

This post is about the counter itself. For layouts and the work triangle, see our guide to modular kitchen layouts; for the silica question around engineered quartz, see kitchen trends 2027; and for how granite, marble and Kota compare as stones, see natural stone for houses.

Kitchen platform design with dimensions

Scale section through a 900 mm kitchen platform: a 560 mm deep base unit on a 100 mm plinth set back 50 mm, 18 mm drawer fronts, a 20 mm granite top 625 mm deep with a 20 mm drop strip at the front overhanging the drawers by 22 mm, a 100 mm stone upstand against the wall, and a built-in gas hob whose pan supports stand up to 60 mm above the worktop with a kadhai on top. — Section through a 900 mm platform, drawn to scale. Hob and hood clearances are from Bosch's manual for its 60 cm built-in gas hob; the heights are a worked example for one cook, not a code. Diagram: MOA

Kitchen platform height for Indian cooking

EGGER, a worktop maker, puts the best height at your elbow height minus 100 mm, and the most common at around 900 mm (EGGER). Blum's buying guide asks for 10 to 15 cm between your elbows and the worktop (Blum). So an elbow at 1,000 mm gives a platform of 850 to 900 mm.

Indian cooking adds a twist. The pan supports on Bosch's 60 cm built-in gas hob stand up to 60 mm above the worktop, a table-top stove adds its own body, and a kadhai or pressure cooker sits on top of that. Schüller, a German kitchen maker, recommends a lower cooking area so you can see into pots, and a higher sink; its working heights run from 78.1 to 108.4 cm (Schüller).

Our guidance: set the platform from the main cook's elbow. If you stir heavy vessels every day, stay at the lower end of the range, or choose a built-in hob over a table-top stove, which lowers the burners by the stove's body. The layouts guide linked above covers a lower section for rolling rotis.

Depth, overhang and nosing

Modular base units commonly follow a 60 cm system: IKEA India lists its METOD base cabinet at 60 cm deep (IKEA India), and IKEA's standard worktop is 63.5 cm deep (IKEA).

Platform depth: 600 to 650 mm finished. Our drawing uses 625 mm: a 25 mm service gap for the gas pipe, a 560 mm carcass, 18 mm shutters and a 22 mm overhang (our guidance).
Front overhang: 20 to 25 mm past the shutter face, so water drips clear of the drawer fronts (our guidance).
Breakfast counter overhang: IKEA says to add an extra support if a worktop sticks out more than 250 mm past the cabinet (IKEA planning guide), and its worktop page asks for legs no more than 80 cm apart.

Backsplash upstand

Where the platform meets the wall, run a strip of the same stone up the wall, usually 75 to 100 mm high, sealed to the platform with a flexible sealant rather than grout (our guidance). Above it, tile or slab the wall up to the wall units; our coming post on kitchen wall tiles covers dado heights. Taking the slab itself up the wall, as in the kitchen below, removes the joint altogether.

L-shaped kitchen with a black speckled stone platform that turns down to the floor at the end of a peninsula, a full-height splashback in the same black material up to glossy white wall cabinets, and a flush hob and sink in the counter. — The same material on the platform, the splashback and a waterfall end: fewer joints for oil and haldi to find. Photo cropped. Image: Max Vakhtbovych on Pexels, Pexels License

Kitchen platform design: granite, quartz, marble, Kota and the rest

The card sets each material against an Indian cooking day, using maker care data where we could open it.

Table rating seven kitchen platform materials, granite, engineered quartz, marble, Kota stone, sintered stone, solid surface and stainless steel, on three tests: a hot kadhai straight off the flame, haldi, oil and tea stains, and lemon, tamarind or vinegar, with a note from each maker's care data. — How each platform material handles heat, stains and acids, from makers' care sheets, the Natural Stone Institute and IS 1128. The Good, Care and Weak ratings are our reading of those sources. Diagram: MOA

Granite: MSI, a stone supplier, says a hot pan will not crack well-maintained granite, though one spot heated again and again may discolour, and sealing helps it resist stains (MSI). Hence granite as the Indian default.
Quartz: Caesarstone says always use a trivet or hot pad, and avoid strong acids, alkalis and solvents (Caesarstone).
Marble: the Natural Stone Institute says citrus, tomatoes and vinegar etch it, and no sealer stops etching (Natural Stone Institute). Keep marble for a serving or baking counter.
Kota stone: IS 1128 caps its water absorption at 0.15% (BIS, IS 1128), but as a limestone it dulls with acids; seal it (our guidance).
Sintered stone: Cosentino says pans can go straight onto Dekton after use, except 8 mm Dekton, and asks owners to avoid naked flame and constant contact with a hob's metal (Cosentino).
Solid surface: Corian says never put hot pans, particularly cast iron, on its tops or sinks, though most damage can be repaired on site (Corian).
Stainless steel: heat-proof but shows every scratch; we found no maker care sheet to open, so that line is our guidance.

Thickness and edge profiles

The CPWD platform item is 18 mm stone, with moulding and polishing of the edges included in the rate (CPWD DSR 2023, item 8.2). EGGER puts worktops at 25 to 40 mm. You can get the thick look without a thick slab: a strip glued under the front edge, or a mitred apron.

Five kitchen platform edge profiles drawn to the same scale: an eased 18 mm square edge, an 18 mm half bullnose, a 36 mm laminated drop edge with a strip glued under the front, a full 30 mm slab, and a 60 mm mitred apron, each labelled with its CPWD rate where one exists. — Edge profiles to scale. A laminated or mitred edge makes an 18 mm slab look thick for less stone than a full 30 mm slab; rates are from CPWD's Delhi Schedule of Rates 2023. Diagram: MOA

Thickness also matters for the hob. Bosch's UK installation guide asks for a worktop at least 20 mm thick over a drawer and 30 mm over an oven (Bosch UK). An 18 mm granite slab on a modular unit should sit on a full-depth support under the hob cut-out (our guidance).

Kitchen platform design with sink: undermount or top-mount

A top-mount (drop-in) sink sits on the stone with its rim on top. Carysil, an Indian sink maker, calls these easy to install in most countertop materials (Carysil). Its rim is a ledge where grime collects, but it is easier to replace (our guidance).

An undermount sink hangs under the stone; Carysil says it gives a seamless look with easy countertop clean-up. It needs stone, quartz or solid surface, because the cut edge shows and must be polished (our guidance). CPWD prices "opening of required size and shape" for a kitchen sink in a stone platform, with tap holes and polished cut edges, at ₹978.70 each (DSR item 8.5).

Design render of a single straight kitchen run: a dark stone platform holding a four-burner built-in gas hob and a black undermount sink, coral-red base shutters, matt black wall cabinets and an LED strip lighting a textured backsplash. — Design render: one straight platform with the hob set flush into the stone and an undermount sink at the far end, the arrangement a small Indian kitchen most often needs. Image: Bilal Mansuri on Pexels, Pexels License

Wherever the sink goes, IKEA asks for at least 100 mm of worktop between the sink and the worktop edges, so the construction stays sturdy (IKEA planning guide). Cut the hole from your sink's own template.

Kitchen platform design with chimney and hob: cut-out clearances

Bosch's manual for its 60 cm built-in gas hob PNH6B.B9.A (an edition written for Australia and New Zealand) sets out the numbers a stone fabricator needs (Bosch manual):

a cut-out of 560 mm by 480 to 490 mm, in a worktop at least 600 mm deep;
at least 50 mm from the cut-out to the front edge and 50 mm to the back;
at least 60 mm from the cut-out to a side wall;
a range hood at least 650 mm above the hob, and pan supports up to 60 mm high.

Indian hobs differ: Kaff lists its 60 cm ASF 604 at 600 x 520 mm overall with a 555 x 475 mm cut-out (Kaff). IKEA adds at least 200 mm between the hob and a wall, and space beside it for hot pots. For the chimney, Faber India gives 26 to 32 inches between stove and chimney (Faber India), close to Bosch's 650 mm minimum.

Plan of an 8 ft (2,400 mm) straight kitchen platform, 625 mm deep, drawn to scale: a 590 mm built-in gas hob 200 mm from the side wall with its 560 by 490 mm cut-out at least 50 mm from the front and back edges, 900 mm of prep counter, then a 610 by 460 mm sink 100 mm from the front edge and 100 mm from the end, with a 100 mm upstand along the back wall. — Cut-out clearances in plan, drawn to scale: Bosch's hob cut-out and edge distances, IKEA's 200 mm from hob to wall and 100 mm around the sink, and Blum's 900 mm prep counter. Your hob and sink templates decide the final holes. Diagram: MOA

Bosch's UK guide recommends rounded cut-out corners as structurally stronger. Kaff's built-in hob page reminds buyers that on granite or quartz the fabricator makes the cut and it cannot be undone, so fix the hob model before the template visit.

Kitchen platform design L shape

In an L-shaped platform, the corner is where slabs usually meet. Our guidance: put the joint in the corner square or along a straight run, never through a sink or hob cut-out, and keep it at least 150 mm clear of any hole so the narrow strip of stone beside the cut-out does not crack. Ask to see the joints on the drawing before cutting.

U-shaped kitchen with a polished brown speckled engineered-stone platform, an undermount stainless steel sink under a large window, light grey handleless drawers and a beige stone backsplash running up to white wall cabinets. — One polished stone platform carried around the corners, with an undermount sink under the window. Plan the corner joints before the slab is cut. Image: Max Vakhtbovych on Pexels, Pexels License

Count the corner square once when you measure: on 10 ft and 8 ft walls with a 2 ft deep platform, the run is 16 running ft and 32 sq ft of slab, not 36.

Kitchen platform design for small kitchen

Keep the hob and sink on one run with at least 400 mm between them, IKEA's small-space minimum, and aim for Blum's 900 mm. If the room is too narrow for 600 mm units, IKEA suggests 370 mm deep cabinets. A built-in hob and an undermount sink leave more usable counter. Our coming post on modular kitchen design for small kitchens covers storage.

Kitchen platform design price: granite, marble and quartz

The government rate book gives a firm baseline. CPWD's Delhi Schedule of Rates 2023 prices 18 mm platform stone laid on a 20 mm mortar bed, with edges polished:

Item (CPWD DSR 2023)	Rate	Per sq ft	Per running ft, 2 ft deep
Granite, all colours except black and cherry or ruby red, slab over 0.5 sq m (8.2.3.2)	₹3,848.70 per sq m	₹358	₹715
Black, cherry or ruby red granite (8.2.2.2)	₹5,136.30 per sq m	₹477	₹954
Raj Nagar white, Udaipur green or Zebra black marble (8.2.1.2)	₹3,078.40 per sq m	₹286	₹572
Edge moulding, granite (8.3.2)	₹510.95 per metre		₹156
Sink opening with tap holes (8.5)	₹978.70 each

Per sq ft and running ft figures are our conversions. The stone itself is a small part of the rate: CPWD's basic material rate for 18 mm granite is ₹1,290 per sq m, and ₹2,260 for 30 mm. It has no Kota platform item; its basic rate for semi-polished Kota slab is ₹320 per sq m.

Worked example: the L above, 16 running ft at 2 ft deep, is 32 sq ft of granite, about ₹11,440 at the CPWD rate, plus one sink opening (₹979) and a 100 mm upstand, about 5.3 sq ft of small pieces at the small-slab rate of ₹4,170.70 per sq m (8.2.3.1), about ₹2,030. That is roughly ₹14,500 on April 2023 Delhi rates, before any hob cut-out or profiled edge.

Market range, per sq ft, read on 22 Oct 2026: NoBroker's guide of 14 July 2026 lists material-only prices of ₹150 to ₹500 for granite, ₹250 to ₹1,500 for quartz, ₹250 to ₹1,200 for marble, ₹350 to ₹900 for solid surface, ₹600 to ₹2,500 for sintered stone and ₹500 to ₹1,500 for stainless steel, and says fabrication and installation add ₹150 to ₹400 per sq ft (NoBroker). HomeLane's Kolkata guide of 23 February 2026 gives ₹160 to ₹350 for granite and ₹280 to ₹450 for quartz (HomeLane). These are firms' published estimates, not quotes, and do not say whether GST is included.

On NoBroker's figures, the same 32 sq ft L would cost about ₹9,600 to ₹28,800 in granite, material plus fitting. Ask every quote to state thickness, edge, cut-outs and GST. For a whole-kitchen budget, see our interior design cost guide or try MOA's free home cost calculator. If you also follow vastu for the hob and sink, our vastu for kitchen post covers placement.

Frequently asked questions

What is the standard kitchen platform height in India?

There is no legal standard. Most platforms are 850 to 900 mm. Set yours from the main cook's elbow: EGGER says elbow height minus 100 mm, Blum says 10 to 15 cm below the elbow.

Which is better for a kitchen platform, granite or quartz?

Granite handles a hot kadhai better: MSI says a hot pan will not crack well-maintained granite, while Caesarstone asks for a trivet under hot cookware. Quartz is easier on stains. Keep a trivet beside the hob either way.

What is the price of a granite kitchen platform per sq ft?

CPWD's 2023 Delhi rate for an 18 mm granite platform, laid, is ₹3,848.70 per sq m, about ₹358 per sq ft, or about ₹715 per running ft at 2 ft deep. Published market ranges run from ₹150 to ₹500 per sq ft for the stone alone, plus fitting.

Can tiles be used on a kitchen platform?

They can, but every grout joint on a work surface collects oil and haldi. If you tile, use large-format tiles and epoxy grout (our guidance). A single slab of granite, quartz or sintered stone is easier to keep clean.

Planning a kitchen platform? Find an interior designer on MOA; the directory can be filtered by city.

Sources

Central Public Works Department: Delhi Schedule of Rates 2023, Volume 1, items 8.2, 8.3, 8.5 and basic rates (accessed 22 Oct 2026)
Bosch: User manual and installation instructions, built-in gas hob PNH6B.B9.A (accessed 22 Oct 2026)
Bosch UK: Gas hob installation (accessed 22 Oct 2026)
Kaff: 4 Burner Built-in Hob, 60 cm (ASF 604) (accessed 22 Oct 2026)
Kaff: Built-in hobs (accessed 22 Oct 2026)
Faber India: Installing Kitchen Chimney at Home: Step by Step Guide (accessed 22 Oct 2026)
EGGER: What is the Ideal Kitchen Worktop Height? (accessed 22 Oct 2026)
Blum: Tips for buying your kitchen (accessed 22 Oct 2026)
Schüller: The right working height in the kitchen (accessed 22 Oct 2026)
IKEA: IKEA kitchen planning guide (accessed 22 Oct 2026)
IKEA: EKBACKEN worktop, 246 x 63.5 x 2.8 cm (accessed 22 Oct 2026)
IKEA India: METOD base cabinet with shelves, 60x60x80 cm (accessed 22 Oct 2026)
MSI: Can You Put Hot Pans On Granite? (accessed 22 Oct 2026)
Caesarstone: Care and maintenance (accessed 22 Oct 2026)
Natural Stone Institute (Use Natural Stone): How to Care for Your Marble Countertops (accessed 22 Oct 2026)
Bureau of Indian Standards: IS 1128:1974, Specification for limestone (slab and tiles) (accessed 22 Oct 2026)
Cosentino: Dekton cleaning and maintenance for kitchen countertops, via Floform (accessed 22 Oct 2026)
Corian: Use and Care (accessed 22 Oct 2026)
Carysil: Sink Installation 101: Which one is best for you? (accessed 22 Oct 2026)
NoBroker: Best countertop materials for kitchen and bathroom, 14 July 2026 (accessed 22 Oct 2026)
HomeLane: Modular Kitchen Cost in Kolkata, 23 Feb 2026 (accessed 22 Oct 2026)
Pexels: Pexels License (accessed 22 Oct 2026)