Builders
all over India are increasingly turning to technology to offset the sharp rise
in the cost of construction amid a slowdown in sales.
Some
real estate developers / builders / promoters are investing in plants to
manufacture pre-fabricated walls & ceilings while others are bringing in
methods that not only double the pace of construction but also reduce the
requirement of precious steel.
Innovations..!
The
innovations come at a time when most developers have suffered a sharp slide in
margins over the past few quarters.
Developers
are finding different ways to reduce cost, says Mr. Sanjay Dutt, Executive
Managing Director, South Asia at property advisory firm Cushman &
Wakefield. The cost of inputs such as cement & steel has risen by 35 to 40 per cent over the
last 2 years and labour rates have more than doubled.
Save
Construction Cost & Time...!
“Margins
are down by 50 per cent for us because of higher commodity prices & slower house sales,” says R. K Arora, MD of
Noida-based builder Supertech, which has invested Rs. 200 crore to set up a
plant in neighbouring Greater Noida to produce standardised pre-fabricated
walls & slabs.
“Pre-fabrication
is done in a controlled environment, so quality and finishing are better,” says
Mr. Harleen Oberoi, Executive Director, project & construction management
at construction services firm AECOM. “It also reduces the need for labour
considerably.”
Pre-fabrication
allows developers to save 15 to 20 per cent of construction cost & as much as 40 per cent of the time.
Reduce
use of steel & cement by 20%..!
“If
we can manage to finish on time, we will be able to maintain our margins,” says
Mr. Shaishav Dharia, Head ( Strategy) at the Mumbai-based Lodha Group. The
company is focusing on setting up a more reliable supply chain that would
minimise delays. In its township project in the Mumbai suburb of Dombivali, the
company has started using lightweight blocks, which are 15 to 20 per cent
lighter & reduce the use of steel and cement by 10 to 20 per cent. “This is
a straight 2 to 4% addition to our
margins,” says Mr. Dharia.
L
ightweight
blocks require 5 kg steel per square feet compared with 6 kg in the case of
regular bricks, a saving of nearly Rs. 50 per square feet coupled with the
reduction in the requirement & costs
of labour for installation.
Moreover,
the supply of regular bricks is not reliable, especially in Maharashtra. Rising
labour costs account for 35 to 40 per cent of a project today, as daily wages
for an unskilled labourer have gone up to Rs. 200 from nearly Rs. 100 two years
ago and Rs. 500 for a skilled labourer, up from Rs. 250.
Speed
Up Construction..!
Lodha
& Supertech are building high rises
in Mumbai & Noida, where
conventional building techniques would result in time & cost overruns.
To
speed up construction, the 2 builders have invested in new shuttering
technology that helps them complete a slab in a building in seveneight days,
compared with almost a month required in the conventional method.
Shuttering
is the mould used to set concrete in a building and this new variety is lighter
and can be moved automatically from one floor to another, requiring 70 per cent
less labour.
“The
cost of procuring the technology might be high initially, but it pays back by
way of huge savings,” says Arora.
Bangalore-based
Puravankara Projects is using foam based concrete for making its internal
walls, which brings in efficiency &
requires less labour to be done, says the company’s chief Operating
Officer, Mr. Jack Bastian Nazareth.
“Value
engineering at the beginning of a project increases the speed of construction,”
says Mr. Jack Bastian Nazareth, adding that the company has been able to save
up to Rs, 120 per square feet using this technology, which yields a better
finish, reduces the need for plastering & can be finished with just one
coat of paint.
Src:
ET
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