But the adopt|on o modern meth-

ods o bu||d|ng construct|on |s ||m|ted

when restr|ctedtoas|ng|emater|a| and|s
oten constra|nedby convent|ona| des|gn
th|nk|ng. ln th|s context, Pre-cast con-
crete systems are stead||y rep|ac|ng
trad|t|ona| methods as lnd|a treads
towards adopt|ng qua||ty assur|ng, qu|ck
andeco-r|end|yconstruct|onpract|ces.
These bu||d|ngs de||ver sure|t bene-
|ts over trad|t|ona|, |n-s|tu bu||d|ng
construct|on and are produced by
cast|ng |nd|v|dua| concrete e|e-
ments ||ke so||d wa||s, so||d
|oors, ho||ow core s|abs, pre-
stressed and precast
ver bu||t a mode| skyscraper or
your dream bunga|ow us|ng the
ELEGO toy b|ocks, as a k|d? l
yes, you w||| be ab|e to connect seam-
|ess|yw|thth|samaz|ngtechno|ogy, wh|ch
|n the past ew decades, has g|ven r|se
toana|together new|ndustry |nlnd|a The
Precast Concrete Bu||d|ng lndustry!
W|th the onset o 12th FYP, con-
struct|on act|v|ty |s peak|ng up across
the nat|on as mu|t|-b||||on do||ar pro-
|ects are current|y be|ng bu||t |n the orm
o |arge sca|e commerc|a|, |ndustr|a|
and res|dent|a| deve|opments and|nra-
structure pro|ects. These pro|ects are
tr|gger|ng extens|ve demand or many
rawmater|a|s, ama|or shareho|der be|ng
cement concrete, wh|ch |s at the heart
o every bu||d|ng pro|ect and |s used |n
many app||cat|ons, rom decorat|ve to
unct|ona|.
120 The Masterbu||der - ApriI 2013 www.masterbu||der.co.|n
beams and raters, sta|rcases, com-
pound wa||s, roo t||es, paver b|ocks,
etc. |n a contro||ed env|ronment, to be
then transported to the construct|on
s|te, ||tedand|xed|nto p|ace.
AnaIysis
Cmo|lomyo o, Ooyo|
Cosl|mg o Comc|ele |ulu|e
|mo|om -|e-cosl Comc|ele 0u||o|mg |mousl|y
Pre-cast Concrete Buildings: Steadily
materializingdemand
Pea| estate |ndustry has been one
o the astest grow|ng sectors |n the
country over the |ast ewdecades. W|th
demands or hous|ng and commerc|a|
property |ncreas|ng |n the same pro-
port|onas the rap|d popu|at|onand eco-
nom|c growth, the sector |s under h|gh
pressure to cater to th|s demand at
aordab|e rates and |ower turnaround
t|me.
The demand or urban and rura|
hous|ng has a|so been r|s|ng cons|s-
tent|y ow|ng to the abnorma||y h|ghres|-
dent|a| pr|ces wh|ch are aordab|e or
r|ch |nvestors but not the needy lnd|an
m|dd|e c|ass, wh|ch compr|ses ma|or-
|ty o the popu|at|on. The lnd|an urban
popu|at|on |s expected to reach 576
m||||on |n 2030 (current|y, |t |s around
350 m||||on). lnd|a |s thus ac|ng a short-
ageo near|y25m||||onaordab|ehouses
or wh|ch the lnd|an Govt. |s read||y pro-
v|d|ng var|ous subs|d|es to bu||ders and
customers.
Another ma|or prob|em |s the
unp|anned urban deve|opment wh|ch
the c|ty mun|c|pa||t|es have enterta|ned
over the decades, wh|ch has |ed to
|nadequate and |nappropr|ate urban
|nrastructure, s|umestab||shments, etc.
o||ow|ng wh|ch the governments have
|aunched s|um rehab|||tat|on schemes,
wh|chaddtotheovera|| hous|ngdemand.
ln th|s scenar|o precast construc-
t|on techno|ogy |s g|v|ng encourag|ng
resu|ts ||ke a|ready w|tnessed|n Amer|ca,
Europe and M|dd|e East. So ar th|s
techno|ogy has been used |n con-
struct|ng |arge pro|ects ||ke br|dges,
|yovers, tunne|s and metro ra||s |n
lnd|a, but |t can now be |ncreas|ng|y
w|tnessed |n construct|on o hote|s,
hosp|ta|s, res|dent|a| bu||d|ngs, show-
rooms, schoo|s, etc.
Market Overview: Arisingindustry
Though precast bu||d|ng construc-
t|on |ndustry |s st||| at |ts nascent stage
|n lnd|a, |ts rap|d|y com|ng to the ore-
ront o theconstruct|on|ndustrybecause
|ong term market prospects, |n th|s
|ndustry, appear h|gh|y encourag|ng.
121 www.masterbu||der.co.|n The Masterbu||der - ApriI 2013
AnaIysis
structura| products or res|dent|a|, com-
merc|a| and |ndustr|a| bu||d|ngs. Prod-
ucts that w||| are part|cu|ar|y we|| |n th|s
market |nc|ude oundat|ons, wa||s and
|oors.
Growth w||| a|so be spurred by the
r|s|ng use o arch|tectura| products ||ke
decorat|ve aades, door and w|ndow
surrounds, and s|d|ng. Poo|ng t||es w|||
a|so support demand and w||| bene|t
rom the|r popu|ar|ty |nthe rap|d|y grow-
|ng res|dent|a| markets.
lnd|an construct|on |ndustrys dr|ve
towards susta|nab|e deve|opment
shou|da|sobene|t th|ssector, duetothe
h|gh |eve|s o recyc|ed mater|a|s used,
lts est|mated that the |ndustry w||| grow
10 t|mes |n next 5 years rom the current
|eve| o around 2500 crore.
The key sectors wh|ch are ||ke|y to
exper|ence |nrastructura| growth |n
com|ng t|mes are o|ces, |ndustr|a| and
reta||, educat|on, res|dent|a| and med|-
ca| - though these growth sectors are
dependent on und|ng streams rom
Government and PFl sources be|ng
ma|nta|ned.
Some spec||c products w|th|n the
broad categor|es o precast concrete
product|on |nc|ude dense, ||ghtwe|ght
and aerated concrete b|ocks, precast
concrete t||es, precast c|add|ng and
PCC hoste| bu||d|ng construct|on at SPM un|vers|ty, Chenna|
Th|s sunr|se |ndustry may be the answer to lnd|as aordab|e hous|ng needs
122 The Masterbu||der - www.masterbu||der.co.|n ApriI 2013
and precast concretes h|gh therma|
and acoust|c |nsu|at|onpropert|es.
Substituting 'n-Situ': Advantages are
many
The growth |n demand o PCC
bu||d|ngs |s not surpr|s|ng as precast
concrete components prov|de a num-
ber o bene|ts as ||sted be|ow:
Architectural flexibility: The sp|en-
dor o var|ety |n precast so|ut|ons g|ves
space to breathe, to be creat|ve and
|mag|nat|ve. These bu||d|ngs oer
amaz|ng versat|||ty and ab|||ty to better
w|thstand the extreme temperatures |n
a reg|on.
Time and Life cycle cost: E|ement
bu||d|ng method creates a great|y
acce|erated construct|on t|metab|e,
wh|ch |owers the cost, because cap|ta|
|snt t|ed up or years |n bu||d|ngs that
are not yet ready. Th|s techno|ogy a|so
|mproves construct|on qua||ty and
extends the ||e cyc|e o bu||d|ngs,
mean|ng any repa|rs needed |ater |n
the bu||d|ngs ||e w||| be stra|ghtorward
and muchmore cost eect|ve.
Green and sustainable: These
structuresareway moreecor|end|y and
susta|nab|e, be|ng u||y recyc|ab|e and
contr|but|ng to |ower ||ght|ng costs due
to |ts re|ectance qua||t|es. PCCe|ements
arecreatedromh|gh-strengthre|norced
concrete, wh|ch requ|res |ess concrete.
There |s |ess construct|on waste, w|th
urther reduces the env|ronmenta|
|mpact. Another th|ng |s that these e|e-
ments canbeerectedw|thout thewooden
shutter|ng used or on-s|te cast|ng.
Structural Safety: Mass o struc-
ture |s cr|t|ca| |n context o se|sm|c|ty |n
lnd|a. The mass o structure contr|b-
utes to the |atera| orces and adds upto
the stresses, |ead|ng to uneconom|ca|
des|gns. W|th |mp|ementat|on o pre-
stressed precast components and s|en-
der members ||ke ho||ow core s|ab, the
mass o structure |s contro||ed and over-
a|| econom|c des|gn and mater|a| sav-
|ngs |s ach|eved. Structura| con|gura-
t|on or stab|||ty and |ntegr|ty o PCC
structures |n se|sm|c reg|ons has been
tested met|cu|ous|y and |t |s be|ng used
|n h|gh se|sm|c zones across the g|obe
||ke West SA, Ta|wan, New Zea|and,
Korea etc.
Easier to execute: lnd|an Monsoon
|asts or near|y 3-4 months, creat|ng
add|t|ona| cha||enges or the bu||d|ng
pro|ect management. Precast e|ements
can be manuactured |n surround|ngs
where the eects o ra|n and other
weather cond|t|ons canbe e||m|nated.
Th|stechno|ogyhasa|sobeenproven
to be a good so|ut|on or work saety.
L|ke many other countr|es, lnd|a |s a|so
ac|ng a shortage o sk|||ed |abor |n the
bu||d|ng |ndustry. Precast |s |ess |abor-
|ntens|ve. An add|t|ona| advantage o
precast |s that dur|ng manuactur|ng
and |nsta||at|on s|m||ar work-rout|nes
arerepeated. Th|she|psworkersto|earn
and become more e|c|ent, pro|ect ater
pro|ect.
Experts have been qu|ck to recog-
n|ze a|| these bene|ts and are thus
work|ng towards gett|ng th|s techno|-
ogy - |ts r|ghtu| market share |n emerg-
|ng lnd|a.
Key Players: VolumebasedBusiness
sage o tota| precast |n bu||d|ngs
|s new to lnd|a and there |s a huge
opportun|ty because o the |ack o sk|||ed
manpower, cons|der|ngthe h|ghvo|ume
|ndemand.
P|ant eng|neer|ng spec|a||sts,
E|emat|c, Beton| Mestar|t o F|n|and and
Precast techno|ogy oers a var|ety o arch|tectura| products: lnosys Bu||d|ng, Chenna|
Precast structures can save a tota| o 64% man hours needed to construct a Cast |n s|tu bu||d|ng
AnaIysis
RBBR Infrastructure Pvt.Ltd
124 The Masterbu||der - ApriI 2013 www.masterbu||der.co.|n
vo||ert An|agenbau o Germany, etc.
are some |nternat|ona| ma|ors p|ay|ng
|mportant ro|e |n assoc|at|ng w|th and
supp|y|ng lnd|an entrepreneurs and
compan|es w|th PCC product|on tech-
no|ogy through state o art mach|nes
and systems enab||ng them to set up
the|r actor|es.
Lead|ng compan|es |n th|s sector
|nc|udeH|ndustanPreab, Precast lnd|a,
S|mp|ex Preab lnra, Precast Bu||dcon,
KK lnd|a, vME Precast, Janapr|ya,
Amarapa||, Supertech, Sa| Preeth| pre-
cast, etc. A|| these compan|es own s|n-
g|e or mu|t|p|e product|on ac|||t|es w|th
2
a capac|ty o 200,000 600,000 m per
year.
Estab||shed p|ayers |n th|s sector
are now |ook|ng to |ncrease the|r
capac|ty at the|r ex|st|ng set-ups and
then move to estab||sh other p|ants.
Some op|ne that there |s no po|nt |n
br|ng|ng th|s bus|ness to lnd|a un|ess
one |s prepared or s|gn||cant sca|e-
up. Th|s may be done by add|ng more
cast|ng beds and more tab|e mou|ds to
theex|st|ngactoryor bu||d|nganewone.
Services offered: What toexpect?
Most o the estab||shed p|ayers |n
the |ndustry oer turnkey so|ut|ons
|nc|ud|ng des|gn, manuacture and
erect|on o PCC modu|ar bu||d|ngs
through co||aborat|ons w|th the|r part-
ners. A customer and |nvestor can
choose the best des|gn so|ut|on or h|s
spec||c pro|ect ut|||z|ng a wea|th o pre-
cast concrete opt|ons ava||ab|e.
Estab||shed and reputed compa-
n|es guarantee pro|t, saety and qua|-
|ty, based on the|r extens|ve exper|ence
|n econom|ca| des|gn, |atest manuac-
tur|ng processes and the use o com-
pos|te stee| and concrete mater|a|s
most appropr|ate to the pro|ect.
Technology: Deeper nsight
Broad|y, precast concrete con|gu-
rat|on or bu||d|ngs are categor|zed |n
two ways, co|umn-beam rame struc-
ture or wa||-rame structure w|th pre-
stressed precast s|abs. For commer-
c|a| and |ndustr|a| structures, requ|r|ng
wa|| ree |arge spaces, co|umn-beam
rame structure |s common|y |mp|e-
mented. Wh||e or res|dent|a| bu||d|ngs,
aesthet|c po|nt o v|ewand make use o
ava||ab|e essent|a| wa||s, wa||-rame
structure |s common|y dep|oyed.
For bu||d|ngs, ma|n structura| com-
ponents are precast co|umn, pre-
stressed precast beams, pre-stressed
precast s|abs (e|ther ho||owcore or so||d
s|abs), and re|norced concrete pre-
cast structura| wa||s and non-|oad bear-
|ng part|t|on wa||s. O these, ho||ow core
s|ab |s one o the most |mpress|ve |nno-
vat|ons wh|ch orm a part o th|s tech-
no|ogy. lt |s apre-stressedconcretes|ab
w|thcont|nuous vo|ds prov|dedtoreduce
we|ght and cost and |s pr|mar||y used
as a |oor or roo deck system.
These s|abs are ormed through a
dry cast, extrus|on process where zero
s|ump concrete |s orced through the
mach|ne. The cores are ormed w|th
augersandtubesw|ththeconcretebe|ng
compactedaroundthe cores us|ngh|gh
requency v|brators.
As ar as the|o|nts requ|redto|t these
structura| e|ements together are con-
cerned, cr|ter|a can vary cons|derab|y
depend|ng on the product type, s|ze
and bu||d|ng movements. Typ|ca||y, |o|nts
|n structura| products are 1" and arch|-
tectura| products are". However, there
are a number o cons|derat|ons ||ke
From Let: F|tt|ng the re|norcement manua||y, Concrete spreader w|th mob||e operat|ng p|atorm
Ho||ow Core S|abs stacked at s|te
AnaIysis
Preca Solutions India Pvt. Ltd
precast sect|ons and hand||ng at s|te
has been pos|nga prob|emunt|| recent|y.
But, now that there |s cons|derab|e
|mprovement |nthe qua||ty o roads (r|d-
|ng surace) and a|so ava||ab|||ty o h|gh
capac|ty hand||ng equ|pment |n most
metros, th|s |ndustry |s expected to
|our|shrap|d|y.
A|so, rea| estate deve|opers, due to
p|||ng up o extens|ve|y h|gh pr|ced,
unso|d|nventory |n metros ||ke De|h| and
Mumba|, are |ook|ng or aordab|e
hous|ng opt|ons to augment the|r bus|-
ness|nhardt|mes. Not surpr|s|ng|y, Home,
Sweet Home r|ngs true a|so |n th|s part
o the wor|d, and many lnd|ans |ook or-
ward to home ownersh|p as very h|gh
soc|a| and cu|tura| va|ue |s attached to
property ownersh|p.
The examp|es o precast concrete
rom other countr|es show that there |s
market potent|a| or the product |nhous-
|ng prov|ded manuacturers promote
sens|b|e opt|ons to a we||-|normed mar-
ket. There are thus many |essons to be
|earned romcountr|es that use a h|gher
proport|ono |ndustr|a||zedhous|ngthan
lnd|a.
lndeed, take-up o precast may u|t|-
mate|y depend on the ba|ance o con-
struct|on costs and added va|ue. Th|s
d||cu|t equat|onmayneedtobereso|ved
on an |nd|v|dua| pro|ect bas|s, thereby
oer|ng every house bu||d|ng c||ent a
ta||ored package. For precast concrete
to make |nroads |n the hous|ng and
commerc|a| market, contractors and
c||ents need to be made aware o the
speedandqua||ty bene|ts |t oers, wh||e
owners and occup|ers need to be made
aware o the perormance bene|ts over
t|me such as |re res|stance, se|sm|c re-
s|st|v|ty,acoust|candtherma||nsu|at|on, etc.
The soc|o-econom|c changes |n
lnd|a have paved the way or precast
techno|ogy to |our|sh and |arge-sca|e
bu||d|ngpro|ects havemade|t evenmore
|ucrat|ve as the h|gh |n|t|a| |nvestment
costs can be covered |n a reasonab|e
per|od o t|me. ln the upcom|ng decade,
|t wou|dnt be surpr|s|ng | we w|tness
a|most every lnd|an construct|on com-
panyspresence|nth|sboom|ng|ndustry.
126 The Masterbu||der - ApriI 2013 www.masterbu||der.co.|n
Extract|ng casted wa|| pane| rom t||ted tab|e
Transportat|on o Large Precast e|ements has been a cha||enge
bu||d|ng expans|on |o|nts, bu||d|ng |so-
|at|on |o|nts etc. that w||| d|ctate the |o|nt
s|zes.
Growing popularity: ncreasing appli-
cationinreal estate
The need to |ncrease the pace o
construct|on has become a d|re neces-
s|ty. W|th shortage |n houses ga||op|ng
by the day and the act that end users
expect to get possess|on qu|ck|y, th|s
techno|ogy has prompted some ma|or
names |n the rea| estate |ndustry to
embrace |t, a|m|ng to |ncrease the pace
o de||very.
lnter|or Crat, A|stone, Orr|s lnra-
structure, Amrapa||, Supertech, Omkar
bu||ders, L&T, Sweta Estates, Godre|
Propert|es, Tata hous|ng, Panchshee|
Pea|ty, Marve| Pea|tors, etc. haveadopted
th|s new bu||d|ng system|n some o the|r
pro|ects wh|ch he|ps |n sav|ng up to
64%o thetota| manhours needed us|ng
convent|ona| methods. The use o PCS
a|so br|ngs down the construct|on cost
by 10-15% | |ts a mass hous|ng deve|-
opment.
Future: All set for aconcretechange
The ma|n concern or PCC |ndustry
|s transportat|on |n a country as b|g and
var|ed as lnd|a. Transportat|on o |arge
AnaIysis