Agra Red Sandstone · Dholpur Belt · Since 1996
The sandstone of Agra Fort, Fatehpur Sikri and the Red Fort — quarried from the same belt, cut to your schedule. Slabs, paving, cladding, rockface and carving stock.
One stone, cut several ways — gangsaw slabs, natural hand-cut, cladding and rockface. Each format on its own line below. Tap any photo to see it full size.
Cut from the block on a multi-blade gangsaw — large format, sawn both faces, even thickness across the slab. This is the stock you cut to size from: flooring, cladding, treads, copings and cut-to-drawing work all start here.
Hand-cut natural slabs at the standard 4 × 2 ft, with the riven face left as the stone split. More texture, more grip underfoot and a stronger red than a sawn surface — the traditional choice for courtyards and external paving.
Wall formats: flat cladding strips for elevations and feature walls, and rockface — a split, pillowed face that throws a deep shadow line and reads as solid masonry from a distance.
Deep, even red with a fine grain — occasionally banded with cream or buff, which is the stone telling you it is natural. The colour runs right through, so a chipped edge is still red.
Most stones are specified on a test certificate. This one has a longer record than that.
Akbar built it in this stone. It has stood through four centuries of Indian summers and monsoons, and it is still red.
The red is the stone, not a coating or a surface stain. Cut it, chip it, carve it — the colour is the same all the way down.
Fine, even grain and no hard bands, which is why the Mughal carvers chose it. It cuts, jaalis, mouldings and CNC work cleanly.
Slabs, paving, cladding, rockface, copings, steps, kerbs, cobbles and carving blocks — all from one quarry belt, one colour match.
About the Stone
Agra Red is a fine-grained red sandstone from the quarry belt around Dholpur, Bharatpur and Agra, on the Rajasthan–Uttar Pradesh border. It is the stone the Mughals built with: Agra Fort, Fatehpur Sikri and the Red Fort in Delhi are all Agra Red, and so is a great deal of colonial and modern Delhi. Few building stones anywhere have a longer weathering record in the open.
The colour is a deep, saturated red that runs through the whole block rather than sitting on the surface. Some blocks carry cream or buff banding, some are almost uniform; both are the same stone and the variation is what stops a large area looking printed. Freshly cut it is at its brightest, and it settles over the first season or two into a slightly warmer, softer tone.
It is sold under several names — Agra Red, Red Agra, Dholpur Red, Indian Red Sandstone — which describe the same material from the same belt. Names shift between quarries and export markets, so specify against a physical sample rather than a name and you will not be surprised on delivery.
The grain is even and free of hard bands, which is why it was the carving stone of choice for three hundred years and why it still handles jaali screens, mouldings, cornices and CNC work without chipping out. We supply it as gangsaw slabs, natural hand-cut 4 × 2 slabs, cut-to-size paving and tiles, cladding, rockface walling, copings, steps, kerbs, cobbles and carving blocks.
Two stock lines: gangsaw slabs for cut-to-size work, and the natural hand-cut 4 × 2 ft slab. Everything else — paving modules, tiles, cladding strips, copings, treads and kerbs — is cut to your drawing. Send the cutting list and we will quote against it.
Thickness is set by application — heavier for vehicular paving, lighter for cladding and interiors. Tell us the use and we will specify it with the quotation.
Courtyards, driveways, temple and hotel plazas. Riven for grip, sawn for a flatter line.
Facades, boundary walls and feature walls in flat cladding or rockface.
Treads, risers, wall copings, pier caps and kerbstones cut to drawing.
Jaali screens, mouldings, columns, fountains and heritage matching work.
A few honest notes that will save you real trouble later.
Full mortar bed, always. Lay paving on a full wet bed, not on dots or spots. Voids under a slab collect water, and water under sandstone is what causes staining, movement and eventually a cracked slab. This is the single most common cause of a paving job going wrong.
Prime the backs. A slurry primer on the underside of each slab gives the bed something to grip and cuts the risk of picture framing — the dark border that appears when moisture moves through the edges of a slab rather than evenly.
Mix from several crates. Natural red varies from block to block, and that variation is the point. Open three or four crates and work across them so the colour reads as a whole area rather than as patches. Dry-lay a few square metres first.
Expect some efflorescence, and wait it out. A white salt bloom in the first months is normal on any new sandstone laid in cement, and it clears on its own with weathering. Do not attack it with acid — acid burns red sandstone and lightens it permanently.
Sealing is optional, and breathable only. Around dining areas and barbecues an impregnating sealer makes oil and wine much easier to lift. Use an impregnator that lets the stone breathe, never a surface film coating, which traps moisture and peels within a couple of years.
A deep red sandstone quarried in the Agra–Dholpur belt on the Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh border. It is the stone of Mughal Agra: Agra Fort, Fatehpur Sikri and the Red Fort in Delhi are all built from it. Fine grained, dense and easy to work — which is why it was the carving stone of choice for three centuries.
Effectively yes. Agra Red, Red Agra, Dholpur Red and Indian Red Sandstone all describe stone from the same quarry belt around Dholpur, Bharatpur and Agra. The names vary by market and by quarry rather than by material. Specify against a physical sample rather than a name.
It does not wash out, but it mellows. Freshly cut Agra Red is at its most saturated; after a season or two outdoors the tone settles into a slightly softer, warmer red. Natural variation between pieces, including occasional cream and buff banding, is part of the stone and not a defect.
Agra Red has been specified on external paving and elevations in the UK and Europe for decades. Frost performance depends on density and water absorption, which vary between quarry blocks, so ask for the test certificate against your own climate and specification before ordering.
Natural riven, hand-cut, sawn, honed, sandblasted, brushed, tumbled and rockface. Natural and rockface hold the most texture and the strongest colour; sawn and honed read flatter and more contemporary. We can also carve and CNC the stone.
We supply gangsaw slabs for cut-to-size work, and natural hand-cut slabs at the standard 4 × 2 feet. Paving, tiles, cladding strips, copings, steps and kerbs are cut to your schedule. Thicknesses are set by application. Send the drawing or cutting list and we will quote against it.
Not structurally. On patios and around barbecues or dining areas an impregnating sealer makes oil and wine marks far easier to lift. Use a breathable impregnator rather than a surface coating, which traps moisture in the stone and eventually peels.
Measure the area and add roughly 10%. For cladding and any pattern work, add a little more. We quote by square foot or square metre, FOB or CIF.
Tell us the format, finish, quantity and destination — we'll come back with USD/sqft pricing and confirmed lead times. No agents in between.
Other Indian stones that specify well alongside Agra Red.
Speak to our team for pricing, samples, MOQ details and shipping options to your country. Direct from India since 1996.
