Analysis

Casting a Concrete Future:

Indian Pre-cast Concrete Building Industry
Chaitanya Raj Goyal

ver built a model skyscraper or

your dream bungalow using the
LEGO toy blocks, as a kid? If
yes, you will be able to connect seamlessly with this amazing technology, which
in the past few decades, has given rise
to an altogether new industry in India The
Precast Concrete Building Industry!
With the onset of 12th FYP, construction activity is peaking up across
the nation as multi-billion dollar projects are currently being built in the form
of large scale commercial, industrial
and residential developments and infrastructure projects. These projects are
triggering extensive demand for many
raw materials, a major share holder being
cement concrete, which is at the heart
of every building project and is used in
many applications, from decorative to
functional.

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But the adoption of modern methods of building construction is limited

when restricted to a single material and is
often constrained by conventional design
thinking. In this context, Pre-cast concrete systems are steadily replacing
traditional methods as India treads
towards adopting quality assuring, quick
and eco-friendly construction practices.
These buildings deliver surfeit benefits over traditional, in-situ building
construction and are produced by
casting individual concrete elements like solid walls, solid
floors, hollow core slabs, prestressed and precast

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beams and rafters, staircases, compound walls, roof tiles, paver blocks,
etc. in a controlled environment, to be
then transported to the construction
site, lifted and fixed into place.

Analysis

Pre-cast Concrete Buildings: Steadily

materializing demand
Real estate industry has been one
of the fastest growing sectors in the
country over the last few decades. With
demands for housing and commercial
property increasing in the same proportion as the rapid population and economic growth, the sector is under high
pressure to cater to this demand at
affordable rates and lower turnaround
time.
The demand for urban and rural
housing has also been rising consistently owing to the abnormally high residential prices which are affordable for
rich investors but not the needy Indian
middle class, which comprises majority of the population. The Indian urban
population is expected to reach 576
million in 2030 (currently, it is around
350 million). India is thus facing a shortage of nearly 25 million affordable houses
for which the Indian Govt. is readily providing various subsidies to builders and
customers.
Another major problem is the
unplanned urban development which
the city municipalities have entertained
over the decades, which has led to
inadequate and inappropriate urban
infrastructure, slum establishments, etc.
following which the governments have
launched slum rehabilitation schemes,
which add to the overall housing demand.
In this scenario precast construction technology is giving encouraging
results like already witnessed in America,
Europe and Middle East. So far this
technology has been used in constructing large projects like bridges,
flyovers, tunnels and metro rails in
India, but it can now be increasingly
witnessed in construction of hotels,
hospitals, residential buildings, showrooms, schools, etc.

PCC hostel building construction at SRM university, Chennai

It's estimated that the industry will grow

10 times in next 5 years from the current
level of around 2500 crore.
The key sectors which are likely to
experience infrastructural growth in
coming times are offices, industrial and
retail, education, residential and medical - though these growth' sectors are
dependent on funding streams from
Government and PFI sources being
maintained.
Some specific products within the
broad categories of precast concrete
production include dense, lightweight
and aerated concrete blocks, precast
concrete tiles, precast cladding and

structural products for residential, commercial and industrial buildings. Products that will fare particularly well in this
market include foundations, walls and
floors.
Growth will also be spurred by the
rising use of architectural products like
decorative faades, door and window
surrounds, and siding. Roofing tiles will
also support demand and will benefit
from their popularity in the rapidly growing residential markets.
Indian construction industry's drive
towards sustainable development
should also benefit this sector, due to the
high levels of recycled materials used,

Market Overview: A rising industry

Though precast building construction industry is still at its nascent stage
in India, it's rapidly coming to the forefront of the construction industry because
long term market prospects, in this
industry, appear highly encouraging.

This sunrise industry may be the answer to India's affordable housing needs

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Analysis

Precast technology offers a variety of architectural products: Infosys Building, Chennai

and precast concrete's high thermal

and acoustic insulation properties.
Substituting 'In-Situ': Advantages are
many
The growth in demand of PCC
buildings is not surprising as precast
concrete components provide a number of benefits as listed below:
Architectural flexibility: The splendor of variety in precast solutions gives
space to breathe, to be creative and
imaginative. These buildings offer
amazing versatility and ability to better
withstand the extreme temperatures in
a region.
Time and Life cycle cost: Element
building method creates a greatly
accelerated construction timetable,
which lowers the cost, because capital
isn't tied up for years in buildings that
are not yet ready. This technology also
improves construction quality and
extends the life cycle of buildings,
meaning any repairs needed later in
the building's life will be straightforward
and much more cost effective.
Green and sustainable: These
structures are way more eco friendly and
sustainable; being fully recyclable and
contributing to lower lighting costs due
to its reflectance qualities. PCC elements
are created from high-strength reinforced
concrete, which requires less concrete.

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There is less construction waste, with

further reduces the environmental
impact. Another thing is that these elements can be erected without the wooden
shuttering used for on-site casting.
Structural Safety: Mass of structure is critical in context of seismicity in
India. The mass of structure contributes to the lateral forces and adds up to
the stresses, leading to uneconomical
designs. With implementation of prestressed precast components and slender members like hollow core slab, the
mass of structure is controlled and overall economic design and material savings is achieved. Structural configuration for stability and integrity of PCC

structures in seismic regions has been

tested meticulously and it is being used
in high seismic zones across the globe
like West USA, Taiwan, New Zealand,
Korea etc.
Easier to execute: Indian Monsoon
lasts for nearly 3-4 months, creating
additional challenges for the building
project management. Precast elements
can be manufactured in surroundings
where the effects of rain and other
weather conditions can be eliminated.
This technology has also been proven
to be a good solution for work safety.
Like many other countries, India is also
facing a shortage of skilled labor in the
building industry. Precast is less laborintensive. An additional advantage of
precast is that during manufacturing
and installation similar work-routines
are repeated. This helps workers to learn
and become more efficient, project after
project.
Experts have been quick to recognize all these benefits and are thus
working towards getting this technology - its rightful market share in emerging India.
Key Players: Volume based Business
Usage of total precast in buildings
is new to India and there is a huge
opportunity because of the lack of skilled
manpower, considering the high volume
in demand.
Plant engineering specialists,
Elematic, Betoni Mestarit of Finland and

Precast structures can save a total of 64% man hours needed to construct a Cast in situ building

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Analysis

From Left: Fitting the reinforcement manually; Concrete spreader with mobile operating platform

Vollert Anlagenbau of Germany, etc.

are some international majors playing
important role in associating with and
supplying Indian entrepreneurs and
companies with PCC production technology through state of art machines
and systems enabling them to set up
their factories.
Leading companies in this sector
include Hindustan Prefab, Precast India,
Simplex Prefab Infra, Precast Buildcon,
KK India, VME Precast, Janapriya,
Amarapali, Supertech, Sai Preethi precast, etc. All these companies own single or multiple production facilities with
a capacity of 200,000 600,000 m2 per
year.
Established players in this sector
are now looking to increase their
capacity at their existing set-ups and
then move to establish other plants.
Some opine that there is no point in
bringing this business to India unless
one is prepared for significant scale-

up. This may be done by adding more

casting beds and more table moulds to
the existing factory or building a new one.
Services offered: What to expect?
Most of the established players in
the industry offer turnkey solutions
including design, manufacture and
erection of PCC modular buildings
through collaborations with their partners. A customer and investor can
choose the best design solution for his
specific project utilizing a wealth of precast concrete options available.
Established and reputed companies guarantee profit, safety and quality, based on their extensive experience
in economical design, latest manufacturing processes and the use of composite steel and concrete materials
most appropriate to the project.
Technology: Deeper Insight
Broadly, precast concrete configu-

Hollow Core Slabs stacked at site

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ration for buildings are categorized in

two ways, column-beam frame structure or wall-frame structure with prestressed precast slabs. For commercial and industrial structures, requiring
wall free large spaces, column-beam
frame structure is commonly implemented. While for residential buildings,
aesthetic point of view and make use of
available essential walls, wall-frame
structure is commonly deployed.
For buildings, main structural components are precast column, prestressed precast beams, pre-stressed
precast slabs (either hollow core or solid
slabs), and reinforced concrete precast structural walls and non-load bearing partition walls. Of these, hollow core
slab is one of the most impressive innovations which form a part of this technology. It is a pre-stressed concrete slab
with continuous voids provided to reduce
weight and cost and is primarily used
as a floor or roof deck system.
These slabs are formed through a
dry cast, extrusion process where zero
slump concrete is forced through the
machine. The cores are formed with
augers and tubes with the concrete being
compacted around the cores using high
frequency vibrators.
As far as the joints required to fit these
structural elements together are concerned, criteria can vary considerably
depending on the product type, size
and building movements. Typically, joints
in structural products are 1 and architectural products are . However, there
are a number of considerations like

Analysis

Extracting casted wall panel from tilted table

building expansion joints, building isolation joints etc. that will dictate the joint
sizes.
Growing popularity: Increasing application in real estate
The need to increase the pace of
construction has become a dire necessity. With shortage in houses galloping
by the day and the fact that end users'
expect to get possession quickly; this
technology has prompted some major
names in the real estate industry to
embrace it, aiming to increase the pace
of delivery.
Interior Craft, Alstone, Orris Infra-

structure, Amrapali, Supertech, Omkar

builders, L&T, Sweta Estates, Godrej
Properties, Tata housing, Panchsheel
Realty, Marvel Realtors, etc. have adopted
this new building system in some of their
projects which helps in saving up to
64% of the total man hours needed using
conventional methods. The use of PCS
also brings down the construction cost
by 10-15% if it's a mass housing development.
Future: All set for a concrete change
The main concern for PCC industry
is transportation in a country as big and
varied as India. Transportation of large

Transportation of Large Precast elements has been a challenge

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precast sections and handling at site

has been posing a problem until recently.
But, now that there is considerable
improvement in the quality of roads (riding surface) and also availability of high
capacity handling equipment in most
metros, this industry is expected to
flourish rapidly.
Also, real estate developers, due to
piling up of extensively high priced,
unsold inventory in metros like Delhi and
Mumbai, are looking for affordable
housing options to augment their business in hard times. Not surprisingly, 'Home,
Sweet Home' rings true also in this part
of the world, and many Indians look forward to home ownership as very high
social and cultural value is attached to
property ownership.
The examples of precast concrete
from other countries show that there is
market potential for the product in housing provided manufacturers promote
sensible options to a well-informed market. There are thus many lessons to be
learned from countries that use a higher
proportion of industrialized housing than
India.
Indeed, take-up of precast may ultimately depend on the balance of construction costs and added value. This
difficult equation may need to be resolved
on an individual project basis, thereby
offering every house building client a
tailored package. For precast concrete
to make inroads in the housing and
commercial market, contractors and
clients need to be made aware of the
speed and quality benefits it offers, while
owners and occupiers need to be made
aware of the performance benefits over
time such as fire resistance, seismic resistivity, acoustic and thermal insulation, etc.
The socio-economic changes in
India have paved the way for precast
technology to flourish and large-scale
building projects have made it even more
lucrative as the high initial investment
costs can be covered in a reasonable
period of time. In the upcoming decade,
it wouldn't be surprising if we witness
almost every Indian construction company's presence in this booming industry.