Vol.No.02 Issue No.

5 Kochi May 2021

First women mine

managers of India
Umasankar G.

Building the green way

Aashima Gupta.

Graphene-enhanced
concrete is here
Sany launches 4 new
truck cranes
Dynapac unveils
new gen pavers

INTERVIEW

INNOVATIONS,
TECHNOLOGY
CREATE QUALITY
TATA HOUSING
LIFE SPACES
Sanjay Dutt
Managing Director and CEO
Tata Realty and Infrastructure Ltd.
High strength cement !
Crack-free concrete !

Complex problems,
complete solutions
Hyderabad International Airport
400kV Ibri-Izki Transmission Line, Oman
You cannot answer tomorrow’s
challenges with today’s capabilities. The
future will seek those who can build big,
build fast, build smart.
At L&T Construction, we have the
experience and the expertise to turn
challenge into opportunity.
We are ranked among the world’s
top international contractors. Our
track record extends across the globe.
L&T Construction
Mount Poonamallee Road, Manapakkam, P.B.No. 979, Chennai - 600 089, INDIA
E-mail: info@Lntecc.com Tel: +91 44 2252 6000, 2252 8000
Regd. Office: Larsen & Toubro Limited, L&T House, N. M. Marg, Ballard Estate, Mumbai - 400 001, INDIA CIN: L99999MH1946PLC004768
www.Lntecc.com
Delhi - Agra Road Lucknow Metro
181 MLD Water Treatment Plant for Command & Control Centre, Prayagraj
Vellore, Tamil Nadu
At project after project, we have
demonstrated the ability to meet the
most demanding requirements of speed,
scale and complexity.
From the high caliber Engineers at
our Engineering Design & Research
Centre to experienced project managers
in field, we have a team with the
full complement of skills to provide
complete solutions.
A brand of Larsen & Toubro Limited
Construction Philosophy | May 2021 | 3
 May 2021

COVER STORY 14

DELIVERING LIFE
SPACES OF QUALITY
Tata Realty has been providing quality life spaces through continuous
innovation and investment in the latest in green technology, says Tata
Realty and Infrastructure Ltd. Managing Director and CEO Sanjay Dutt. tt.
The pandemic has not hurt the company because it had long ago taken n
the decision to accelerate construction and deliver its products fast,
Mr. Dutt tells C. Gouridasan Nair, Consultant Editor, CP.

30 25

Graphene-enhanced
concrete
The University of Manchester and
Nationwide Engineering, a construction
²UPOHGE\XQLYHUVLW\DOXPQLKDYH
developed graphene-enhanced
concrete which holds the potential to
revolutionize the concrete industry.
ESCI launches
AICTE-recognized
48 PG courses
Engineering Staff College

Building the of India, an organ of the

Institution of Engineers

green way (India), is offering a two-

A walk through the protocols and
processes to be followed when
one opts for ‘green’ building
construction. Little things can go a
long way, writes Aashima Gupta.
year full-time PGDM
Infrastructure Management,
PGDM General Management
and Industrial Safety and
Environment Management
courses, all recognized by
AICTE.

4 | May 2021 | Construction Philosophy

 Vol. No. 02 Issue No. 5 | Kochi | May 2021
46

Let development move

Trail blazers
Sandhya Rasakatla and
Yogeswari Rane have made
KLVWRU\E\EHFRPLQJ²UVW
Indian women mine managers
of India, writes Umasankar G.
54
Sany launches
4 new truck
cranes
Sany India, a
global leader in the
CE Industry has
successfully embraced
the Bharat CEV Stage
IV norms and launched
four new truck cranes:
STC250C, STC450C,
STC600C and
STC800C.
Construction Philosophy is owned, printed and published
by Nebu Abraham and printed at Sterling Print House Pvt.
Ltd., Door No. 49/1849, Ponekkara-Cheranelloor Road,
AIMS, Ponekkara PO, Cochin-682041, Kerala.
to the North East
Infrastructure development is fundamental to the economic development
and social upliftment of a society. Econometric studies have shown that the
development of physical infrastructure has a direct correlation to economic
and social development. Construction of roads, for instance, has a huge
role to play in connecting areas of underdevelopment with those that have
marched ahead. Development of communication facilities results in labour
“œLˆˆÌÞ>˜`“>ÀŽiÌVœ˜˜iV̈ۈÌÞ°ƂÌ>˜ˆ`iœœ}ˆV>iÛi]ˆÌÜi`Ãv>À‡y՘}
regions together to make a stable nation.
Viewed in this perspective, the growth and development of infrastructure in
the North East is of paramount importance to the overall growth and stability
of India. It would be nobody’s case that the development of Infrastructure in
the North East, both physical and social, are on par with that in the rest of the
country. The region is craving for more government and private investment
in transport and communication infrastructure, manufacturing industries and
social capital assets.
Around 52% of the North East is covered with forests. The terrain is vulnerable
to natural calamities and the cultural diversity that the region represents is
unique in many ways. The development strategy for the region must factor in
>̅iÃi>˜`>Ãœ̅i>``ˆÌˆœ˜>È}˜ˆwV>˜Viœv̅iÀi}ˆœ˜>Ãœ˜iLœÀ`iÀˆ˜}
a powerful and ambitious neighbour. This must be a partnership initiative
between the people in the region, Central and State governments and the
private sector. Land records in the entire region should be digitised and
Land sharks and poachers kept at bay. More road and train linkages must
follow. A few key initiatives have already been set in motion, but more needs
to be done. And, quickly.
Send your articles/feedback to
editor@constructionphilosophy.com
Editor & Publisher
Nebu Abraham
Consultant Editor
C. Gouridasan Nair
Design & Layout
KG Manoj
Rahul K.R.

*
Responsible for publication of material under PRB Act.

Construction Philosophy | May 2021 | 5

Government promises to look
into builders' demands
Durga Shanker Mishra
NEW DELHI: The government will
look into various demands of the real
estate industry, including an exten-
sion of timeline for completion of
projects by 6 to 9 months, Housing
and Urban Affairs Secretary Durga
Shanker Mishra has said.
Addressing a webinar organised by
realtors’ body NAREDCO, Mr. Mishra
said the Government is sympathetic
to their demands and, if need be,
take them to the RERA Advisory
Council for appropriate decisions.
The government had extended the
timeline for completion of projects
last year following imposition of the
national lockdown, he pointed out.
India's ranking in ease of doing
business related to construction
activities has risen to 27 from 186.
The new ranking is expected any
time and there is a strong possibility
of India being in the in top-20 this
year, he said.
NAREDCO's representatives had
submitted a memorandum to the
Government seeking several mea-
sures to revive both demand and
supply in the sector that has been
badly affected by the COVID-19
pandemic.
6 | May 2021 | Construction Philosophy
Besides extension of timeline for
completion of projects by 6 to 9
months, the Association had also
sought extension of validity of all
building permits till March 2023,
rationalisation of government levies
on real estate and steps to check the
rising prices of cement and steel.
They had also sought reintroduc-
tion of interest subvention scheme,
grant of input credit tax on GST paid
on leased commercial real estate,
suspension of insolvency law for
some more period and an online
environmental clearance system.
On high taxes levied by the central
and state governments on real
estate, Mr. Mishra said he will ask
ˆ˜ˆÃÌÀÞ¿ÃÃi˜ˆœÀœvwVˆ>Ã̜iÝ>“ˆ˜i
the matter in detail. "We will try to
reduce government levies," he said.
The real estate sector accounts for
7% of the Gross Domestic Product
(GDP). It is a $200-billion industry
and is all set to become a $1-trillion
sector with rapid urbanisation. The
highest housing demand was from
the economically weaker sections
(EWS) and low-income group (LIG).
Millennials also wanted 2-3 BHK
y>ÌÃ]>˜`˜œÌL՘}>œÜð
Earlier, chairing the webinar,
NAREDCO President Niranjan Hi-
ranandani said construction activities
in the country have slowed as only
50% labourers were available on sites
owing to Covid second wave. Devel-
opers would not be able to complete
their projects on account of this and
the only way out was to extend the
timeline for completion of projects by
at least a year, he added.
Endorsing the view, NAREDCO
Chairman Rajeev Talwar said all per-
missions related to the development
of projects should be made valid till
March 2023.
Tata Housing MD and CEO Sanjay
Dutt expressed concern about the
abnormal rise in the prices of cement
and steel. Steel prices have more
than doubled while cement prices
have gone up by 50-70% over the
past one year. The Government
should also reintroduce the inter-
est subvention scheme for the real
estate sector.
Neel Raheja of K Raheja group
urged the Government to extend
input tax credit to commercial real
estate.
Rajan Bandelkar, NAREDCO Ma-
harashtra said that, besides meeting
the other demands, the Government
suspend insolvency laws for some
time. Ashok Mohanani, President,
NAREDCO Maharashtra, was also
present at the meeting.
Rs. 15 lakh crore-worth roads will be constructed
in two years: Nitin Gadkari
NEW DELHIi: Union Road Trans- As many as 7,300 projects are to
port and Highways Minister Nitin be implemented at a total outlay of
Gadkari has set a target of road Rs 111 lakh crore by the year 2025
construction of worth Rs 15 lakh under NIP. The larger goal of NIP is
crore in the next two years. He has to attract more investment into infra-
already set a target of 40 kilometres structure such as highways, railways,
per day of highways construction in ports, airports, mobility, energy and
̅iVÕÀÀi˜ÌwÃV>° agriculture and rural industry.
Mr. Gadkari, who was Address- There has been a convergence
ing the online Indo-US Partnership of the national interests of India
Vision Summit, said the Government and the United States and there is
has decided to permit 100% FDI in }ÀœÜˆ˜}Vœ˜w`i˜Vi>“œ˜}LœÌ…̅i
the road sector. Projects such as the administrations that all outstanding
National Infrastructure pipeline (NIP) trade issues can be resolved and ma-
ˆÃ̅iwÀÃÌœvˆÌÃŽˆ˜`>˜`ÀiyiVÌà jor trade agreements signed soon.
the Government’s commitment to US companies are welcome to invest
provide world-class infrastructure to in infrastructure and MSME sectors in
its citizens and improve the quality of India, Mr. Gadkari said.
their lives.

SBI slashes home loan interest rates, additional

perks for women
MUMBAI: State Bank of India (SBI),
the country's largest lender, has
announced a lowering of its home
loan interest rates, which now start at
6.70 per cent for loans of up to Rs.
30 lakh. The rate will be 6.95% for
loans above Rs. 30 lakh and up to Rs.
75 lakh and 7.05% for loans above
Rs. 75 lakh.
C.S. Setty, MD (Retail & Digital
Banking), SBI, said, “SBI, being
̅i“>ÀŽȉi>`iÀˆ˜…œ“iw˜>˜Vi]
assumes the ownership in bolstering
consumer sentiments in the home
loan market. The affordability for
the consumer increases immensely "As we are committed to empow- an additional interest concession of
with the present home loan interest ering the women borrower, a special 5 bps," an SBI release quoted him as
rate offerings which reduce the EMI 5 bps concession is being made saying.
amounts substantially. I am sure available to them. Customers can The bank has a home loan portfo-
̅iÃi“i>ÃÕÀiÃ܈}ˆÛi>wˆ«̜ also apply for a loan from the ease of lio in excess of Rs. 5 lakh crore.
the real estate industry too”. their home via the Yono app to earn

Construction Philosophy | May 2021 | 7

Haryana RERA issues regulations
VQUGNNƃCVUQPN[QPECTRGVCTGC
CHANDIGARH: The Haryana Real
Estate Regulatory Authority has stip-
ulated that an apartment or a build-
ing in any real estate project can be
sold only based on carpet area and
warned builders and developers of
penal action if there is any violation
of the norm. The measure is to check
sale on super area basis, according
to Haryana RERA Chairman K.K.
Khandelwal.
Henceforth, all conveyance deeds,
regardless of whether they are of
apartments or buildings, will be exe-
Q1 2021 remained good for house sale
Top 8 Tier I Indian cities
recorded 9% Y-o-Y rise in sale
of residential properties during
̅iwÀÃ̵Õ>ÀÌiÀœv̅iVÕÀÀi˜Ì
calendar year.
The good performance was
led by sales in Mumbai and
Pune regions and stood at
69,697 apartments. The prices
remained stable in all the Tier 1
cities.
In terms of growth, sale of
residential units in Chennai
witnessed the highest spike,
8 | May 2021 | Construction Philosophy
cuted only on carpet area basis. Sale
of super area or any other basis will
be illegal, he said.
/…i`iw˜ˆÌˆœ˜œvÃÕ«iÀ>Ài>>ëÀœ-
vided in various builder-buyer agree-
ments is vague, with sharp variations
ˆ˜̅i`iw˜ˆÌˆœ˜Ã°/…i«Àœ«iÀÌÞˆ˜
real estate projects is not properly
described and there is no break-up
of the components included in the
super area. The practice of sale of
the real estate on super area basis is
misleading, ambiguous, opaque, and
gives rise to confusion and complex-
registering a growth of 31%, fol-
lowed by Pune at 24%, Bengaluru
19%, Hyderabad 18%, and Mumbai
Metropolitan Region (MMR) 7%.
The National Capital Region (NCR)
witnessed the maximum decline in
sales (8%).
During the quarter, unsold hous-
ing stock in Tier I cities decreased
ities and at times result in avoidable
litigation.
He said the new regulations have
been made by the authority to
ensure sale of plot, apartment, or
building, as the case may be, or sale
œvÀi>iÃÌ>Ìi«ÀœiVÌ]ˆ˜>˜ivwVˆi˜Ì
and transparent manner and to pro-
tect the interest of consumers in the
real estate sector. Before the Real Es-
tate (Regulation and Development)
Act of 2016 came into existence,
there was lack of a legal description
for the term 'carpet area'. The new
Ài}Տ>̈œ˜…>ëÀœÛˆ`i`ëiVˆwV>˜`
Vœ˜VÀiÌi`iw˜ˆÌˆœ˜œvV>À«iÌ>Ài>]Ài-
moving all the vagueness and uncer-
tainty that marked such transactions
so far, he added. NHAI Toll Plaza
by 7% Y-o-Y. Ahmedabad
witnessed the maximum decline
in unsold stock at 16%, followed
by Kolkata 13%, Bengaluru 11%,
Pune 10%, NCR 8%, and MMR
4%, research data shows.
Real estate institutional
investments rose 21% in Q1
First quarter of 2021 has proved
good for the real estate sector in so
far as institutional investments are
concerned. Private equity, pension
and sovereign wealth funds continued
investing in the sector, registering 21%
growth in volumes at $922 million.
According to JLL India, this indi-
cates sustained investor interest in
India’s real estate market. Invest-
ments during the quarter were driven
by more activity from funds and
closed development stage deals and
were further supported by external
macroeconomic factors.
œ““iÀVˆ>œvwVi>ÃÃiÌÃ`œ“ˆ˜>Ì-
ed deals with $864 million transact-
ed, translating to 94% of the total
Û>Õiˆ˜̅iwÀÃ̵Õ>ÀÌiÀ°"vwVië>Vi
developers liquidated their portfolios
to deleverage or raise growth capital
for the next phase of expansion.
“The remarkable resilience of the
œvwVi“>ÀŽiÌ>˜`Vœ˜w`i˜Viˆ˜ˆÌÃ
long-term growth led investors to
chase quality assets available at the
core and development stages. We
TP Saurya wins 250 MW Maharashtra solar bid
TP Saurya, a Tata Power subsidi-
ary, was declared the winner in the
Maharashtra State Power Generation
Company’s (MAHAGENCO) auction
for setting up 250 MW of grid-con-
nected solar photovoltaic projects at
the Dondaicha Solar Park in Dhule,
Maharashtra.
TP Saurya won the full capacity
of 250 MW by quoting 2.51 /kWh.
In January this year, MAHGENCO
had invited bids from solar power
developers for setting up 250 MW
of grid-connected solar photovoltaic
projects at the Dondaicha Solar Park
also see the maturing listed REIT
market providing an alternative to
other asset classes, which lacked in-
come stability,” Samantak Das, Chief
Economist and Head of Research &
REIS (India), JLL.
In addition, investors are actively
scouting for warehousing assets at
present and deals are likely to be
concluded in the coming quarters.
The housing sector, meanwhile,
continues to experience an infusion
of last-mile funding for project com-
pletion.
Among geographies, Hyderabad
܈̘iÃÃi`̅i…ˆ}…iÃÌV>«ˆÌ>yœÜÃ
of $384 million, accounting for a
42% share of investments during
̅iwÀÃ̵Õ>ÀÌiÀœvÓäÓ£]`Õi̜̅i
launch of new developments by the
Phoenix Group. Mumbai accounted
for 21% share of investments with
f£™Î“ˆˆœ˜`i«œÞi`ˆ˜ˆÌÃœvwVi
and residential segments, supported
by the reduction in stamp duty intro-
duced by the State Government of
Maharashtra.
in Dhule, Maharashtra.
The deadline for bid submission
was February 15, 2021. The tender
…>`ëiVˆwi`>Viˆˆ˜}Ì>Àˆvvœv`2.83/
kWh, valid for 25 years.
The project is expected to cost
`8.75 billion and must be commis-
sioned within 15 months from the
power purchase agreement (PPA)
`>Ìi°Ì“ÕÃÌ>Ãœ>V…ˆiÛiw˜>˜Vˆ>
closure within nine months from the
date of the power purchase agree-
ment (PPA). The project will be di-
vided into three blocks – Block I (75
MW), Block-II (125 MW), and Block III
NHAI extends
bidding
deadlines for
Rs 50,000 crore
projects
The National Highways Authority
of India (NHAI) has deferred bid
deadlines for road construction
projects of about 1,000 km in length
by a month amid the second wave of
Covid-19.
The deadlines for these projects,
worth Rs 50,000 crore, have been
extended because of restrictions
that could hamper site visits and due
diligence by potential bidders.
While new bids will continue to
be invited, the postponement of
existing bid deadlines could hurt
the authority’s target of awarding
about 2,500 km of road projects in
̅iwÀÃ̵Õ>ÀÌiÀœvÓäÓÓ°œÃÌœv
these projects are being offered on
engineering-procurement-construc-
tion and hybrid annuity models, the
œvwVˆ>Ã>ˆ`°
(50 MW).
According to Mercom’s India Solar
Project Tracker, Maharashtra current-
ly has 1.8 GW of large-scale solar
projects in operation, while around
1.5 GW of projects is under different
stages of development as of Decem-
ber 2020.
In July of 2020, Tata Power had
announced that its wholly-owned
subsidiary Tata Power Green Energy
Limited (TPGEL) had received a
Letter of Award (LoA) to develop a
225 MW hybrid renewable power
project.
Construction Philosophy | May 2021 | 9
56% fall in solar capacity addition during 2020
There was a sharp 56% fall in solar
installations during 2020, from 7.3
GW during 2019 to 3.2 GW.
Despite this shortfall, of the total
new power capacity added in India
in 2020, 48% was from solar. The
massive fall in solar capacity addition
is attributed to the Covid 19 out-
…ˆ˜>]
break, which disrupted supply chain
globally.
According to a report released by
Mercom India Research, the cumula-
tive installed solar capacity in India
was 38.9 GW at the end of Q4 2020,
with the large-scale projects account-
ing for 87% (33.8 GW).
Large-scale solar installations
accounted for 78% of the additions
at 2.5 GW during 2020. According
to the report, the top ten large-scale
project developers accounted for
69% of the installations in 2020.
Adani was the top utility-scale de-
veloper in 2020, followed by Azure
Power. Both developers won the
manufacturing-linked solar tender
yœ>Ìi`LÞ̅i-œ>À
˜iÀ}Þ
œÀ«œÀ>- cumulatively. SNS Corporation was
tion of India (SECI).
Sterling & Wilson and Tata Power
Solar were the top EPC players for
10 | May 2021 | Construction Philosophy
utility-scale solar installations.
Cumulative rooftop solar installa-
tions in India reached 5 GW at the
end of 2020. A total of 719 MW of
rooftop solar projects were installed
during the year, a decline of 35%
due to the pandemic.
The top ten rooftop solar installers
represented 66% of the market in
2020. Tata Power Solar was the top
rooftop installer, followed by Fourth
Partner Energy.
Sungrow was the top solar central
inverter supplier in the country in
2020. Huawei, Sungrow, Growatt,
Goodwe, and Solis were the other
leading string inverter suppliers. Top
ten module suppliers, including sev-
eral Indian manufacturers, accounted
for 68% of the market share. LONGi
Solar was the top module supplier,
followed by Jinko Solar in terms of
shipment.
As of 2020, Arctech Solar and
NEXTracker were the top suppliers
of solar trackers to the Indian market
Bhadla, and Pavagada. The MNRE
the top supplier of solar mounting
structures during the year, followed
by Strolar and Ganges Internationale
Solar. There were also several new
mounting structure companies in the
top 10 list.
Recently, the Directorate General
of Trade Remedies (DGTR) had rec-
ommended imposition of anti-dump-
ing duty on aluminum-and-zinc-coat-
i`y>Ì«Àœ`ÕVÌÃvÀœ“
Vietnam, and North Korea to protect
the domestic industry.
In 2020, open-access installations
in India saw a 56% increase 2020
due to the increasing interest from
corporates buying open access
projects. Rays Power Experts, Am-
plus Solar, and CleanMax were the
top open access developers as of
December 2020.
In 2020, Solabot Technologies was
the top supplier of robotic cleaning
systems in India. Robotic cleaning
of solar panels is gaining traction in
India amid water scarcity. Most of the
major developers have deployed the
robotic cleaning systems installed
on large solar parks such as REWA,
has also recommended using robotic
cleaning technology, which uses less
water for cleaning solar projects.
LIC raises stake in IRB Infrastructure Developers
Life Insurance Corporation (LIC)
has raised its stake in the special
purpose vehicle that operates Mum-
bai-Pune Expressway. LIC now has a
7.06 per cent stake in IRB Infrastruc-
ture Developers.
/…iVœ“«>˜Þˆ˜ˆÌÃwˆ˜}Ã>ˆ`̅i
insurer added 2.03 per cent stake
or 7.19 lakh equity shares to its
existing holding of 1.76 crore equity
shares or 5.03 per cent stake. The
insurer increased its stake by market
purchase.
20% growth in mining, construction equipment seen
ICRA, the credit rating agency, has
predicted a 15-20% growth for the
mining and construction equipment
industry during 2021.
Although Covid 19 second wave
throws up challenges, particularly in
the manpower-intensive construction
sector, ICRA expects a better-pre-
pared ecosystem.
LIC's stake in the company rose to
5.27 per cent from 3.81 per cent in
the June quarter of FY 2021.
IRB Infra is the largest highway
developer in the private sector with
an asset base of Rs 45,000 crore and
two InvITs. The company’s business
segments are toll roads, construc-
tion, airport development and real
estate.
It has constructed over 12,537 lane
km with 8,809 lane km operational
and 3,728 lane km under devel-
/…iwÀÃ̵Õ>ÀÌiÀœvÓäÓ£ˆÃiÃ̈“>Ì-
ed to have reported a strong equip-
ment demand growth of 45-50%.
However, an economy in the grip of
a pandemic could throw up sudden
negative surprises, it warned.
While overall equipment demand
will be strong during the year,
demand can be hit by the COVID
Construction Philosophy | May 2021 | 11
opment (including projects under
public and private InvIT) across the
country in the past two decades.
IRB portfolio comprises 21 projects
including 19 BOT, one TOT and
one HAM projects. BOT segment
includes nine projects under private
InvIT with O&M contracts; three proj-
ects under tolling and seven projects
under O&M contracts as a project
manager for IRB InvIT.
second wave restricting mobility
and equipment utilisation for a
prolonged period, which in turn
could result in an increase in delin-
quencies and lender pull-back and
a likely equipment price increase of
5-10 percent for the emission norm
change.
1HƂEGURCEGQEEWRCPE[HCEGUOCLQTVGUV
"vwVië>ViÃ>VÀœÃØ`ˆ>>ÀiiÝ-
pected to face a major test in terms
of occupancy during the current
calendar year.
A large number of commercial
space leases are set for renewal this
year, but could face hurdles in the
wake of Covid-19 pandemic and
emergence of hybrid work model.
Over 7,400 leases spanning
>ÀœÕ˜`™ä“ˆˆœ˜õvÌœvwVië>Vi
will come up for renewal this year
across the top commercial real estate
hubs including Mumbai, Bengaluru,
National Capital Region, Pune and
Chennai, according to data from
Anarock Research.
-]˜vœÃÞÃ]
>˜`7ˆ«Àœ
*%%ƂPCNKUGUFGDVTGUQNWVKQPRNCP
The board of Hindustan Con-
struction Company Ltd (HCC) has
approved a debt resolution plan in
a bid to reduce its debt of over Rs
10,000 crore (about $1.38 billion).
Under the plan, HCC will transfer
up to Rs 4,000 crore (about $551
million) worth of liability to subsidiary
*ÀœˆwV,i܏Ṏœ˜*ÛÌÌ`°Ì܈>Ãœ
transfer the ‘economic interest’, that
is, awards of up to Rs 2,749 crore
($379 million) and claims of up to
12 | May 2021 | Construction Philosophy
º/…iœvwVi“>ÀŽiÌ…>ÃLii˜՘`iÀ
strain since the pandemic came in.
However, the IT/ITeS sectors have
been on a hiring spree in 2020
and 2021 due to massive business
accruals. To accommodate these
employees in a future when we see
a gradual return of employees and
adoption of hybrid workplace prac-
̈ViÃLÞ˜vœÌiV…}ˆ>˜ÌÃ]œvwVië>Vi
demand will grow,” said Prashant
Thakur, Director & Head-Research,
Anarock Property Consultants.
ƂVVœÀ`ˆ˜}̜…ˆ“]œvwVi`i“>˜`ˆÃ
also expected to gather momentum
from 2022 in the wake of robust hiring
by large corporates. These big corpo-
Rs 2,136 crore ($295 million), to the
arm.
The plan approved by the board
on May 27 will be subject to neces-
sary approvals. The investor iden-
̈wi`Lޏi˜`iÀÃ܈>VµÕˆÀix£¯
stake in the subsidiary for Rs 25
crore.
“Additionally, the investor will
ˆ˜vÕÃi,ÃÇxVÀœÀiˆ˜*ÀœˆwV,iÜ-
lution in the form of priority debt.
The return on this investment to the
À>ÌiÃ܈`iw˜ˆÌiÞÀi˜iÜ̅iˆÀi>ÃiÃ]
though some of the smaller compa-
nies may consider rationalizing space.
The year 2021 has the highest
lease expiry pipeline when com-
pared to the next two years 2022
and 2023. While the year 2022 will
see nearly 7,000 leases for around
78 million sq ft come up for renewal,
and nearly 4,200 leases for over 55
million sq ft in 2023.
Of the 7,400 leases expiring in
2021, Mumbai has the highest share
of about 44%, followed by Pune with
a 17% share. These two cities have
been among the worst-affected by
the second wave of Covid19, but are
now witnessing steady recovery.
In terms of area, Bengaluru has
the largest share at about 37% of 90
million sq ft renewals, with Mumbai
coming a distant second with a share
of about 19%.
Recent Anarock Research reveals
that the top four Indian IT/ITeS
wÀ“Ç/
- alone hired around 42,000 employ-
iiȘ̅iwÀÃ̘ˆ˜i“œ˜Ì…Ãœvw˜>˜-
cial year 2021. Multinational majors
Cognizant and Capgemini plan to
hire around 23,000 and 30,000 em-
ployees respectively in 2021.
ˆ`i˜Ìˆwi`ˆ˜ÛiÃ̜À܈Liˆ“ˆÌi`>˜`
capped to an agreed threshold,” the
company said.
Moreover, HCC's corporate
}Õ>À>˜Ìii̜i˜`iÀÃœv*ÀœˆwV
Resolution will be limited to 20% or
maximum Rs 800 crore of the debt
transferred.
The Mumbai-based engineering
and construction company has been
shedding assets over the last two
years. HCC had announced in Febru-
ary 2020 its plan to reduce debt by
Rs 2,100 crore ($290 million).
New NHAI guidelines for toll plazas take effect
National Highways Authority of
India (NHAI) has taken a major step
̜Ü>À`Ãi˜ÃÕÀˆ˜}Ãi>“iÃÃyœÜœv
ÌÀ>vwV>Ì̜«>â>Ãœ˜ >̈œ˜>ˆ}…-
Ü>ÞÃLÞw݈˜}£ä‡ÃiVœ˜`VÀœÃȘ}
NGT seeks SOP on environment
norms in construction projects
Noting continuous violation of
environment norms in construction
projects, the NGT has directed the
government to consider issuing
Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)
to all State Environment Impact
Assessment Authorities (SEIAAs) to
check norms violation.
A bench headed by NGT Chair-
person Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel
passed the order while hearing a
case against the order of Maharash-
tra SEIAA granting environmental
clearance (EC) to the ‘Ganga Altus’
construction project in Pune. The
«i>wi`LÞ/>˜>ˆ >“L…ˆÀi
alleged that the Goel Ganga India
Pvt Ltd was carrying out construction
project illegally without the manda-
time even during peak hours.
The new guidelines would ensure
that vehicles do not queue up for
more than 100 metres. Implemen-
tation of FASTag for all vehicles was
tory prior EC.
"Since we are coming across the
grievance of continuous violation of
environment norms in construction
projects being completed without
prior EC and the SEIAA, Maharashtra
is neither requiring demolition nor
payment of assessed compensation
to comply with the rule of law and
protection of environment, it will be
appropriate to require the SEIAA,
Maharashtra to review its working
in the light of the judgments of the
Supreme Court.
"A proper SOP be laid down for
grant of EC in such cases so as to
address the gaps in binding law
and practice being currently fol-
lowed. The MoEF may also consider
Construction Philosophy | May 2021 | 13
̅iwÀÃÌÃÌi«̜Ài`ÕViVœ˜}iÃ̈œ˜
at toll plazas and the new guidelines
܈…i«“>Ži̅iÌÀ>vwViÛi˜“œÀi
vÀii‡yœÜˆ˜}°
According to NHAI, the overall
FASTag penetration in NHAI toll
plazas has reached 96%, with some
having 99% penetration.
According to the new guidelines,
if waiting vehicles form a que longer
than 100 metres, all of them will be
allowed to move on without paying
toll till the queue comes within 100
meters from the toll booth. A yellow
line at a distance of 100 meters from
toll booth has been marked in each
toll lane marking the distance for
immediate operation.
The step will result in toll plazas of
the future being equipped with all
the design and technological param-
iÌiÀÃ̜“iiÌÌÀ>vwV«ÀœiV̈œ˜ÃvœÀ
the next 10 years.
circulating such SOP to all SEIAAs
in the country," the National Green
Tribunal said.
The tribunal also formed a com-
“ˆÌÌiiVœ“«ÀˆÃˆ˜}œvwVˆ>Ãœv̅i
Ministry of Environment and Forests
(MoEF), Central Pollution Control
Board (CPCB), and Maharashtra
State PCB to look into the present
matter and suggest a remedial action
plan for the present case, including
the quantum of compensation to be
recovered, as far as possible within
three months.
"The CPCB and State PCB will be
nodal agency for coordination and
compliance. The Committee may
conduct proceedings online but if
possible, visit the site. The com-
mittee may also interact with the
concerned parties. The report of the
Vœ““ˆÌÌii“>ÞLiwi`LÞi‡“>ˆ]¸
the bench said.
 WE BELIEVE IN
PIONEERING
CHANGES IN
THE REALTY
SECTOR
SANJAY DUTT
MD & CEO, Tata Realty and
Infrastructure Ltd.
SANJAY DUTT

In conversation with
C. Gouridasan Nair,
Consultant Editor, CP.

14 | May 2021 | Construction Philosophy

 INTERVIEW
C. Gouridasan Nair: The housing sector contributes roughly 5-6% to the
national GDP. The pandemic has been quite hard on the real estate sector
and you were at the centre of the storm in a certain sense. Tata Housing has
its footprints all over the place. How did it hit you? How did you strategize
to ride out of this situation?

Mr. Sanjay Dutt: The real estate sector has been going through dramatic
changes over the past 10 years. First of all, the sector is now well-regulated.
Then there is the issue of excessive speculation. When a sector goes through its
cyclical downturn, it gives rise to excessive speculation, which is itself a result
of supply overhang. Again, if you look back, the concentration earlier was too
much on the mid-housing or luxury sector, or what started as an affordable seg-
ment but became luxury by the time the projects were completed, because the
prices kept going up.
7…i˜ÜiÜi˜Ì̅ÀœÕ}…̅iÃi“œÌˆœ˜ÃvœÀ̅iwÀÃÌ̈“iˆ˜̅i…ˆÃ̜ÀÞœv̅i
real estate sector and my own professional career, the graph began pointing
downward. In fact, both the economy and sector graph were down at the same
time. On the regulation side, our projects are dependent on over 200 permis-
sions. Think of any State or Central agency, be it Fire Department, Police De-
partment, Municipal Corporation, State Electricity Board, we are required to
take permissions from all of them.
The situation was also getting complex with digitization and awareness among
the people about their rights. And all this was happening against the backdrop
of very negative perceptions about the sector, especially the developers. As per
RBI reports, the real estate sector makes a major contribution to the GDP and
this is done through Property Taxes, State taxes, Stamp Duty or Registration
Fees or ESI premiums. Still, everybody has a negative perception of the sector.
I wouldn’t say that is without some reason. But we were all being painted
with the same black brush. So, in short, because of all this, we were already in a
crisis management mode when the pandemic hit. We realised that this is worse
than a normal crisis because it is global in nature. Even today, we are not able
to fathom its magnitude because it's still ongoing. If you don’t get a loan, that
event has ended. But here, the event is ongoing. There is no end to this event.
So, here we were, in a state of uncertainty and volatility!
This happened when we were all looking forward to some consolidation in
the sector. We thought that would bring in greater transparency and corpo-
rate developers and the more disciplined developers will do better. At Tata

Construction Philosophy | May 2021 | 15

Housing, we were in a transition phase. We were
getting ready to roll out our revised strategy. We
were across 17 cities when we started working on
it three years ago. Our strategy was that we will
Liˆ˜̜«wÛiVˆÌˆið7iÜiÀiˆ˜ÀiÈ`i˜Ìˆ>]œvwVi]
shopping centre and hospitality. We decided to
sell shopping centres. Within residential, we were
present in all kinds of segments. We decided that
we will focus on affordable, medium and luxury
and not second homes.
Ƃ˜`“œÀiëiVˆwV>Þ]Üi`iVˆ`i`̜ÃÌi«>Ü>Þ
vÀœ“ ̅i }œÛiÀ˜“i˜Ì‡`iw˜i` ¼>vvœÀ`>Li½° Ƃà >
Tata group company, we believe every citizen of
this country is entitled to the same quality of life,
irrespective of their pocket or class differentiation.
If you go to our luxury projects in Bengaluru, Delhi
>˜`œÕÀ>vvœÀ`>Li«ÀœiVÌÃ]ޜÕ܈w˜`̅iÃ>“i
amenities at all those places. Some would be big-
ger, some would be smaller, but our affordable
project will also have a gym and wellness centre.
Emotional wellness is also key to us. There will be
some amenities and area for senior citizens and
 ܅ˆV… “>˜`>ÌiÃ
facilities to collaborate and work as a community.
The same will be available in the luxury projects.
There is a general perception in our society that
affordable housing means cheap homes for the
a consolidation mode. The pandemic has only ac-
celerated the process. We also took a call three
years ago to do accelerated construction of all our
projects and deliver fast. We achieved that bril-
liantly during the last three years. Since we were
building fast, more than 60% of our inventory was
ready to move in without the burden of GST. The
customers could touch, feel and experience be-
fore taking a decision; enjoy the pleasure of mov-
ing into one’s own home without waiting. That is
our philosophy. On the other side, of course, we
continue to do commercial and we have been
growing consistently.
Hasn’t the concept of ‘home’ changed with
the pandemic? Home is not just a living space,
but also a workspace today...
We have been emphasizing on wellness even
before the pandemic. Look how important it has
become now! Not only that, emotional wellness
has also become critical. At Tata Realty, all our
LՈ`ˆ˜}à >Ài ViÀ̈wi` ,
that we use local materials and sustainable ways
of design and planning as far as possible to have
a lower carbon footprint. While all our projects are

 ViÀ̈wi`] “>œÀˆÌÞ œv œÕÀ «ÀœiVÌà >VÌÕ>Þ
poor. In my opinion, any person who buys accord-
ˆ˜} ̜ …ˆÃ œÀ …iÀ w˜>˜Vˆ> V>«>LˆˆÌÞ ˆÃ ˆ˜`Տ}ˆ˜}
in luxury. It is the most important decision in their
life. Why should we categorise them as lower-class
or as the affordable segment and segregate them
from the so-called luxury segment? There is no
need actually. These are just man-made divisions.
We were certain that we should address their as-
pirations. Therefore, we came into the bracket,
which was more in the Rs. 35-45 lakh onwards
segment because, when you want to provide the
quality which the Tata brand stands for along with
certain kinds of amenities, then you have to pro-
vide this much at least.
Our strategy was to simplify, to reduce the num-
ber of cities and the number of segments where
we wanted to be present. That’s how we were in
16 | May 2021 | Construction Philosophy
are now Platinum rated. The pandemic has em-
phasised the need for self-reliance and it is also
compelling the real estate industry to look at well-
ness as a major priority area of building design
and construction. Hence, by going local, we are
limiting the spread of the pandemic to a certain
extent.
We have spent more on technology and qual-
ity keeping sustainability in mind. The way I see
it, it will become the basic norm, going forward.
However, we have been ahead of the trend and
have been doing it for the past 12-15 years. In
fact, Tata Realty is one of the few Indian develop-
ers that have acquired the WELL Health Safety
rating created by the International Well-Being
Institute (IWBI), in line with its commitment
to the stakeholders. We recently announced

the collection of the WELL Health-Safety Rating for
our operational portfolio of commercial projects
across Gurgaon (Intellion Edge), Mumbai (Intellion
Square - TRIL IT4) and Chennai (Ramanujan Intel-
lion Park) through the International WELL Building
Institute (IWBI).
So, there is nothing new in it for you?
For the Tata Group, it is raising the bar from an
already elevated position. We are setting our own
standards.
What about your resources in terms of de-
ployment of technology and human resource?
We were always the pioneers there. Needless to
say, Tata as a group has been a pioneer in many
sectors. You have been hearing about
small ticket size apartments and affordable
INTERVIEW
SAP ERP system, mainly focused on the needs of
w˜>˜Vi >˜` >VVœÕ˜Ìà v՘V̈œ˜Ã° œÜiÛiÀ ̜`>Þ]
the real estate sector is truly riding the technology
bandwagon and implementing innovative solu-
tions which are likely to reshape the future of the
industry.
In the post-pandemic future, we can expect inte-
gration of touchless technology in common/pub-
lic areas, designing buildings in such a manner as
to curtail spread of pandemics, additional design
changes that ensure decentralization of amenities,
adoption of central concierge desk and a greater
use of technology to ensure safety and wellness.
Does this mean that this pandemic had no
new lessons to offer for you?
Yes, mostly on the technology front. We were
housing for the past 4-5 years. Howev-
er, we launched an affordable brand 12
Þi>Àà >}œ ̈̏i` ¼/>Ì> 6>Õi œ“iý°
Our project became an impressive
case study in the industry. The Tata
,6wÌiÀÃvœÀÃÕ«iÀˆœÀˆ˜`œœÀ>ˆÀµÕ>ˆÌÞ]vœÀ
Group philosophy is to take care of
the masses equally and we strive to
achieve that every day.
A few years back, the real estate
or even the construction industry as
a whole was considered one of the
laggards in technology adoption.
The tech adoption in most cas-
es was restricted to an upgrade
from Tally to
̅iwÀÃÌ̜`œ>Î«ÀiV>ÃÌ«ˆœÌ«ÀœiV̈˜ՓL>ˆ
7-8 years ago. This is not just precast, but 3D pre-
cast. It is not just slab and walls, but units stacked
on each other. Even on a commercial site, we use
£Î
instance in our Ramanujan Intellion Park, Chennai,
designed some 10-12 years ago. Today, other de-
Ûiœ«iÀà >Ài ˜œÜ ˆ˜ÃÌ>ˆ˜} >ˆÀ wÌiÀà LiV>ÕÃi œv
the pollution in Delhi whereas we are moving to
the next level already.
7i ÜiÀi œ˜i œv ̅i wÀÃÌ ˜`ˆ>˜ `iÛiœ«iÀà ̜
digitalise our business functions and that reaped
us great dividends. The sales and marketing func-
tions were the early proponents of tech
solutions in the new normal. Gone are the
days when you needed to move out of
the comfort of your home to search
for properties. Right from checking
out authentic reviews of new proj-
ects to joining groups and hav-
ing a detailed discussion of
the ame- nities, devel-
Construction Philosophy | May 2021 | 17
 opers have been using the social media platform
innovatively to advertise properties and reach out
to the right target audience.
Some of the prominent technology solutions
used are AI/ML based recommendation engine
based on Natural Language Processing (NLP) for
improved target segment marketing, and Chabot
E 6ˆÀÌÕ> ƂÃÈÃÌ>˜Ì ̅>Ì v>VˆˆÌ>Ìià i>ÀÞ VÕÃ̜“iÀ
interactions. Physical walk-ins have been replaced
with virtual walkthroughs and state-of-the-art AR/
6,̜œÃ̜`>Þ«ÀœÛˆ`ii˜`Vœ˜ÃՓiÀÃ>Ãi˜Ãiœv
space and help make informed decisions.
The next avenue for our industry is digital proj-
ects, which simply means use of technology to
deliver projects. This is a fundamental shift in how
a project is designed, constructed, operated and
decommissioned. While few technologies have
seen good adoption, quite a few are being ro-
bustly evaluated for value deliverance. The tech
interventions in this space include Drone Technol-
ogy which facilitates surveillance, inspection and
topographical surveys and Cloud-enabled Col-
laborative Design Process which enables multiple
partners to work on the same design real time.
18 | May 2021 | Construction Philosophy
My understanding is 13 MERV would mean
that you were far ahead of your competitors,
OQTGVJCPOGGVKPIVJGDCUKE.''&EGTVKƂECVKQP
requirements…
I think you have touched upon a very important
aspect that we should discuss. We don’t do devel-
œ«“i˜Ì ̜ “iÀiÞ }>ˆ˜ ViÀ̈wV>̈œ˜° 7i Ü>˜Ì ̜
promote wellness. We want to ensure the health
and safety of the people. And that is a constant
challenge. You will be surprised that while we are
already Platinum rated, we have continued to in-
vest to upgrade those. We could have just not
invested the money and continued to stay where
ÜiÜiÀi>Ã*>̈˜Õ“ˆÃ>`iVi˜ÌViÀ̈wV>̈œ˜°Ƃ-
though Ramanujan Intellion got into the Guinness
book, and it was a pleasant surprise for us, that
was not the intent.
Think of 40,000 people working in a park, day-in
and day-out. When we build something for them,
we should see ourselves as community managers
and not just developers. You have to look after
the community. And that approach, discipline and
respect for the vendors cannot be overlooked be-
cause they are not part of that community. The
 INTERVIEW
employees, whether security or housekeeping, Life in the real estate as a sector, as you know,
project managers or engineers or MEP guys, they has been marked by high cost of compliance with
are all part of the community. We need to provide regulations which, fortunately, companies like us
for all of them. were already doing. But now the costs have gone
The protocols and processes that we put in up even higher. While the government has made
«>Vi«>ˆ`ÀˆV…`ˆÛˆ`i˜`ÃvœÀÕÃ`ÕÀˆ˜}yœœ`>˜` the sector transparent and regulated, it has failed
cyclone that brought life to a halt in Chennai some to regulate itself. If RERA is given the jurisdiction
Þi>ÀÃ>}œ°/…ii˜ÌˆÀiVˆÌÞœv
…i˜˜>ˆÜ>Ãyœœ`i`] to regulate Municipal Corporations and the Town
L>Ãi“i˜Ìà ÜiÀi œÛiÀyœÜˆ˜}° /…iÀi Ü>à Ì>Ž >ÃÌ and Country Planning Departments of every State,
year that if your internet is down, if you are caught it would have been appropriate, but that is not the
ˆ˜ > yœœ` œÀ ˆv ޜÕÀ LÕȘiÃà ˆÃ `ˆÃÀÕ«Ìi`] }œ ̜ case. Nor is there a single window clearance sys-
Ramanujan Intellion Park because that’s the driest tem. As a result, the compliance cost is quite high.
place with internet, power, and everything fully The minimum wages too have been going up.
functional during cyclone. The steel and cement market, whether you wish
to call it cartelization or excessive control by a few
Natural calamities and the pandemic have dominant players, is adding to the costs, putting
thrown up many new challenges before you, a big question mark over viability of real estate.
including possible changes in habitation pat- Since our sale prices have not gone up, the devel-
terns. Where would you peg your bar next? opers have been absorbing the additional costs.
Tata Realty has an exhaustive standard op- On top of this, India is one of the most expensive
erating procedure for disaster and pandemic places when it comes to cost of capital. The av-
management, which has been specially created erage developer must borrow money at 12% or
to effectively deal with situations arising from a 15%. Tatas and other AAA companies get capital
pandemic, cyclones/ monsoon-related incidents, rates that are in low single digits.
i>À̅µÕ>ŽiÃ] ܈`wÀiÃ] >˜`ψ`iÃ] iÌV° Ì i˜Õ- To sum up, the cost of capital, construction
merates broad responsibilities of the different and materials have all gone up and prices have
stakeholders and the facility management depart-
ment, and lays down the sequence of actions to
be taken by the department and the institutional
mechanism for co-ordinated actions. For instance,
our teams take several preventive and proactive
measures to help prevent landslides near our proj-
ect sites such as Myst, near Kasauli. The landslide
mitigation and control measures that we adopt
depend on the detailed investigations, including
identifying causative factors.
We are committed to help ensure greater pro-
tection of our communities from the pandemic by
adopting best practises, technology implemen-
tation and contactless entry/ exit into our prop-
erties for all our residents. A standard operating
procedure for prevention, preparedness and re-
뜘Ãi̜
"6‡£™>˜`i“iÀ}i˜VÞÀiÜÕÀViÈÃ
always updated and maintained at our buildings
>˜` œvwVið 7i >Ài “œ˜ˆÌœÀˆ˜} ̅i
œÀœ˜>ۈÀÕÃ
­
"6‡£™®œÕÌLÀi>ŽVœÃiÞ]VœiV̈˜}>̅iÀi-
evant information from government and medical
authorities, adhering to protocols from the ICMR/
WHO and subject experts and, given the concerns
shared by our residents in the light of the evolving

"6‡£™ ÈÌÕ>̈œ˜] ̅iÃi v>V̜Àà …>Ûi LiVœ“i

even more crucial.

Construction Philosophy | May 2021 | 19

come down. There’s pressure from the top and
there’s pressure from the bottom. Margins have
got squeezed. Compliance and time taken for ap-
provals have gone up; which means holding-cost
is high when you buy land and if you don't build in
the next three years or so you end up in the red.
As a sector, we have been facing several such
V…>i˜}iÃ>˜`…>Ûi…>`̜w˜`Ü>ÞÃ̜LiVœ“i
viable. In order to become viable, we embraced
digitization, smart systems and tools and out-
sourcing. Thus, instead of having your own de-
partments and going in for backward and forward
integration, we outsourced. We began to have
pay-and-use services instead of building unneces-
sarily expensive infrastructure of our own. We also
went in for scale in fewer locations so that our abil-
ity for bulk procurement became greater and em-
braced technology to compress the construction
̈“i° /…iÃi wÛi œÀ ÈÝ ˆ˜ˆÌˆ>̈Ûià …>Ûi ˆ“«ÀœÛi`
the viability aspect of real estate.
In the end, you also should have the ability to
sell faster. Many people talk in terms of corporate
developers versus local developers. In my opinion,
any developer who has corporatized or made the
systems, processes and the organization profes-
sional is a corporate developer. That means a very
agile, lean and high-performance team instead of
a large organisation with backward and forward in-
Ìi}À>̈œ˜̅>̈ÃÛՏ˜iÀ>Li̜“>ÀŽiÌyÕVÌÕ>̈œ˜Ã°
The other thing is, earlier this sector was 70%
to 80% dependent on debt because debt was
cheaper than private equity. Private Equity ex-
pects 20-25% returns. Those days are long gone.
What you get today is 10 to 15% margin. So, if you
get 10 to 15%, then, ideally, debt should be at 5
or 6%. If debt is 15% and if the private equity also
expects 20%, how will you make a return? Market
yÕVÌÕ>̈œ˜Ã]ۜ>̈ˆÌÞ]VœÃÌÃ]ˆ˜y>̈œ˜>˜`>««ÀœÛ>
̈“i“>ŽiˆÌ`ˆvwVՏ̰
In short, we as an organization have moved to
this next level-- my entire business intelligence,
entire organization, enterprise framework is on
the cloud and accessible real time. Every func-
tion-head and geography-head, every function
pump lines, projects, estate, marketing, sales,
you name it, everything is digital and online. We
don't do presentations anymore. We login, we go
through the graphs and pie charts on the enter-
prise server. We also conduct our meetings and
reviews online. The only thing missing is what the
IT companies have done, remote working, of busi-
ness being done in the US and you remotely work-

20 | May 2021 | Construction Philosophy


ing out of India, a kind of work from home.
In terms of being agile and evolving to suit the
prolonged work-from-home culture, which was a
ŜVŽvœÀ˜`ˆ>˜œvwViÃ]Üi…>Ûi>Ài>`Þ«Ài«>Ài`
>âiLœÃ>˜`>Ài«ÀœÛˆ`ˆ˜}yi݈LˆˆÌÞœ«Ìˆœ˜Ã܈̅
WFH to our employees. The culture of the orga-
nization is to care for its people so they can be
at their best and we are focusing on enhancing
usability during this pandemic period without put-
ting additional stressors on our most prized asset,
our employees.
The IT companies were well-prepared, and they
have survived. But the non-IT companies were not
prepared. Fortunately, since we implemented the
`ˆ}ˆÌˆâ>̈œ˜ >ÃÌ ̜ >ÃÌ Þi>À] >VÌÕ>Þ ˆ˜ Ó䣙] Üi
were able to adapt quickly and grow during the
pandemic.
We are also seeing the Institutional Invest-
ment coming in a big way into the realty sector.
*QYKUKVDGPGƂVKPIVJGKPFWUVT[!+UKVDTKPIKPI
in more stability or more speculation?
̅ˆ˜Ž̅iwÀÃÌ}i˜iÀ>̈œ˜œvˆ˜Ã̈ÌṎœ˜>ˆ˜ÛiÃÌ-
ment was way back in 2005 and 2008. During that
period, roughly $27 billion came in through pri-
vate equity, debt and IPOs, etc. Globally, the real
estate market suffered later and India was no ex-
ception. A lot of investors in India gained and did
very well and made handsome return. Majority of
ˆ˜ÛiÃ̓i˜ÌȘœvwViÓ>`i̜˜Ãœv“œ˜iÞ]iÛi˜
after the rupee-dollar setbacks, because when
they brought the money in, dollar was not so ex-
pensive and when they took the money out, the
dollar was almost 30-40 % up. Their returns came
down, but even then, they made money.
The yield compression did happen. We used to
sell at 10 cap. It came down to 7.5-8 cap. Higher
exit and sale values were possible. In the residen-
tial space, the Grade A developers never took pri-
vate equity. Private equity went to all the new de-
velopers who were less experienced or developers
who went from home market to another market or
developers going from Delhi to Hyderabad and
Chennai or back to Gurgaon, which is a home mar-
ket. As a lot of capital invested in the residential
segment did not make money, they suffered.
The capital that came to India during 2005 and
2008, with the exception of a few, was also op-
portunistic, speculative. However, the capital that
is coming now is sovereign and patient and with
œ˜}‡ÌiÀ“Vœ““ˆÌ“i˜Ì̜˜`ˆ>°˜̅iwÀÃÌLÕÀÃÌ]
anybody who was of Indian origin, with an Indi-
INTERVIEW
an name, even though that person was born and
brought up in the U.S., was transferred to India
and was considered an Indian capable of manag-
ing things here.
But all the people who now invest have local
talent, local CEOs, local fund managers, local
knowledge and expertise and that is helping them
invest with the Tire 1 developer. Now, Tire 1 de-
veloper has started taking private equity. So that's
a fundamental difference between then and now.
That must also have to do a bit with the
changes in the policy regime at the national
level?
Well, RERA had an important role to play. Also,
the judicial system in India is respected. Plus, a lot
of people are keeping arbitration clauses with Sin-
gapore, which is a very transparent market that is
highly respected. So, the whole structure of deals
is far more mature now.
And stable. In a certain sense, more stable…
There was one more point. The returns that you
got in the rest of the world were also very poor.
The U.S. and Europe are bigger markets than In-
dia. The Indian market is much smaller, but for
the size of capital that is coming to India, it is
big money because our valuation of properties is
less compared to values in New York and London
and all. So, a certain allocation is always there for
emerging markets, and India remains a promising
emerging market. In fact, many consider this now
as no longer an emerging, but a stable market. We
have moved up the ladder.
That must be the reason why in Q1 this year
we have seen something like $922 million
Construction Philosophy | May 2021 | 21
 coming in as investment. Well, when we look
around, do you see technology percolating at
the pace that it should? Do you see the indus-
try as a whole trying to evolve with the times?
Or do you see more laggards than those ready
to experiment?
India is such a large country that there will al-
ways be contradictions. But I believe in the last
three to four years, what I have witnessed is some-
thing that I have never seen in the last 30 years.
œÀ̅iwÀÃÌ̈“iˆ˜“ޏˆvi]¿ÛiÃii˜>˜`Û>Õ>-
tions go down. The sector has gone through ups
and downs, but land valuations had never gone
down. But this time around that has happened.
ƂÃœ]vœÀ̅iwÀÃÌ̈“i]¿ÛiÃii˜yއLއ˜ˆ}…Ì`iÛi-
opers being put behind bars…

At many places… And industries…

Yes, not just developers. Fly-by-night business-
men, whether they are in airline, development,
telecom or jewellery business, they are no longer
being spared. No longer are they going to get
away with it. A lot of developers, who were actual-
ly landowners, have gone back to being landown-
ers. They don't want to be developers anymore
because they have realized that money is in the
land for them. As a result, consolidation, adapta-
tion, discipline, regulation, professionalism, cor-
poratization, everything that you ever wanted to
achieve, is actually happening here. The ones who
will not do it will no longer be a point of discussion
because, in my opinion, they will cease to exist.

CREDAI and NAREDCO have urged the Gov-

ernment of India to recognise this as an indus-
try. At a meeting with Finance Minister Nirmala
Sitharaman, CREDAI leaders have also sought
relaxation in delivery schedules, changes in the
GST regime, and lowering of stamp duty in var-
ious States. What are your expectations there?
I believe the Central Government has been very
supportive of the real estate sector and I think the
State governments have not been so supportive.
Except Maharashtra government, which had set
some examples in the recent past as well. May-
be a few other States, selectively. I believe State
governments have a big role to play because land
and real estate development is under their juris-
diction. It is extremely important for the State gov-
iÀ˜“i˜ÌÃ̜wÀÃÌ>««ÀiVˆ>Ìi̅iÈ}˜ˆwV>˜Viœv̅i
sector. That should happen before we even talk
about industry status.
We have a very low tax base, right? The gov-
ernment is taxing the rich and luxury goods, but
not doing anything about widening the tax base,
which is the need of the hour. Will you take the
taxes to 80%, like it used to be before the 80s?
That is one solution, or you can reduce the tax
rates. The government reduces the corporate tax
but they have kept the individual tax rates high.
Why? It just beats logic!
I hope the State governments take a cue that
if you reduce the premiums, the fees and the
time taken for approvals, real estate projects will
LiVœ“i «ÀœwÌ>Li >˜` >vvœÀ`>Li° œÀi ÃÕ««Þ
means prices will remain low for customers and
end users, and will be affordable, right? Without
reducing the carpet area, which is not really being

22 | May 2021 | Construction Philosophy

 INTERVIEW

affordable.
On taxes again, take the GST on ce-
ment. What is the logic there? You want
to build infrastructure, but you want
to tax the basic ingredient that goes in
heavily. It's a gravity-defying situation.
Why is the Central government not doing
something about it? That beats me. Tax
reforms are critical. Likewise, you should
not tax an inventory, which is stock in
trade, based on a notional rental income.
It has been challenged in the courts and
there are judgments in favour of devel-
opers, but still the government is yet to
look into it.
Second, what harm can one do if you

Construction Philosophy | May 2021 | 23

 and I want to buy second or third or fourth res-
idential space as an investment? When you buy
automobiles or stocks twice, thrice or four times,
the government doesn’t say you must pay a high-
er tax and capital gains tax. But if I have a second
home, third home, fourth home and even if my
parents are living in that home and I'm not earning
any rent, a notional rent has to be calculated and I
have to pay tax on it.
If I invest in an apartment and sell it later as I
have some business expenses towards that pur-
chase, I'm not entitled to recover those business
expenses from my income, and I must pay short
term capital gains tax. I'm an investor, it's a busi-
ness. You can differentiate a business and you can
separate the one who's only buying a home. Two
separate things! So, why is the government deter-
mined to tax them?
Additionally, whenever the government rolls
24 | May 2021 | Construction Philosophy
out any policy, you have to go through a graph
œvi>À˜ˆ˜}vœÀwÛi̜£äÞi>ÀÃLiV>ÕÃi̅iÀi>Ài
wrong interpretations, litigation, confusion, all of
which places an unnecessary burden on the judi-
cial system. Why do they have to make it so com-
plicated? The exchequer, of course, wants to cap-
ture every possible revenue stream. But at what
cost? Again, why keep the Wealth Tax when the
revenue collected, as Mr. Jaitley once said, is only
Rs. 1,000 crore, but you have to spend more than
Rs. 1,000 crore to collect it. So, apply logic, reduce
tax, reduce governance, simplify procedures, and
reduce State levies. And, in the end of course, if
you give this sector industry status, it will become
better regulated.
Now, NAREDCO, CREDAI, FICCI CII, and many
such organizations are going and speaking to the
government in different languages and the gov-
ernment gets confused. What to take and how to

prioritize? What if real estate is given industry sta-
tus? There would be a Ministry and there would be
a Central body and it will become easier. Besides
the obvious advantages, there is another interest-
ing angle which I must share with you.
Let's look at loans. Banks say we don't want to
give loans for construction of shopping centres
because they think it is bad business. Well, at least
right now it is, but not always. Again, even if I am
a reputed developer, AAA rated, with the ability
to pay, I must pay the same interest, regardless of
whether I take 50% or 70% of the loan sanctioned
to me. If I take less than the loan to value, wouldn't
the risk be low? Suppose you are buying an apart-
ment having a price tag of Rs.2 crore. You take only
Rs. 1 crore loan. Shouldn’t the bank reduce the risk
weighted on you? Your CIBIL score and your risk
of taking less than half the loan on the property
should give you much more attractive rates. That
is not the case now. Why shouldn't my risk be low
if I am taking a lesser loan? So, there are some
very obvious questions that the RBI, Ministry of
Finance, Ministry of Commerce, and the Ministry
of Housing should look into. The government has
INTERVIEW
come up with a lot of initiatives, but some very big
buckets are still left unattended.
I think if you have a perspective of your own
without waiting for your buyer to tell you what
they want. I think that is a great thing…
Not only the buyers. I have been saying for last
two decades that real estate is all about people,
people, and people. Because real estate is pur-
pose built, and the purpose is intrinsically linked
to people. Take a shopping centre for instance,
the purpose of the people is different, home is dif-
viÀi˜Ì]œvwViˆÃ`ˆvviÀi˜Ì]Ü>Ài…œÕȘ}ˆÃ`ˆvviÀi˜Ì°
But in the end, it is all about people.
On a larger note, real estate was once all about
guts. You could sell whatever you built. Now real
estate development is all about research, analysis,
and demand-supply dynamics. Real estate is no
longer a guts-based business, which was once the
case, which was the reason why we suffered. You
know, the sector was known for its herd mentality.
Ek jo banayega, baki sub banana shuru karenge.
They will not understand what the market actually
requires. That’s no longer the case today.
Construction Philosophy | May 2021 | 25
AICTE launches YUVAK Scheme for students to
understand the engineering marvel of Atal Tunnel
All India Council for Technical
Education (AICTE) has launched the
Youth Undertaking Visit for Acquiring
Knowledge (YUVAK) scheme that al-
lows students to learn the engineer-
ing impeccability of the Atal Tunnel.
The YUVAK programme aims to
«ÀœÛˆ`iwÀÃ̇…>˜`Ž˜œÜi`}i>˜`
information about the latest tech-
niques used in the construction of
the tunnel and in particular about
the new Austrian tunnelling method.
Technical institutes can register with
the AICTE to enlist their students for
the course. The last date for registra-
tion is June 21, 2021.
/…iÃV…i“i܈«ÀœÛˆ`iw˜>˜Vˆ>
assistance to conduct a study tour to D. Sahasrabudhe. inspire them to become a part of the
Atal Tunnel for students and faculties AICTE vice-chairman M.P. Poonia nation-building process.”
of technical education institutions said, “The participation of stu- AICTE Member Secretary Rajive
approved by AICTE. "The YUVAK dents in the YUVAK programme is Փ>À˜œÌi`̅>Ìw˜i‡Ì՘ˆ˜}̅ii˜-
programme that allows students to a welcome sign. Programmes like gineering brains within the country is
understand more about the engi- YUVAK will help to develop engi- very much essential for India's future.
neering marvel of the Atal Tunnel neering brains within the country, According to Mr Kumar, programmes
will surely enhance the quality of and it could do wonders for the like YUVAK could catalyse the
engineering education in India. It nation in the future. The Atal Tunnel growth of India's engineering sector
will inculcate research and innova- measuring 9.02 kilometres in length and will encourage students to be
tion culture among students in the could help students understand the part of projects like Atal Tunnel.
country," said AICTE Chairman Anil potential of engineering, and it will

IIT Kharagpur offering free online course on

Java programming via NPTEL
IIT Kharagpur is offering a pro-
gramming course in Java for under-
graduates from the disciplines of
Information Technology, Computer
Science Engineering, ECE, and EE.
The course seeks to instil in the
students an object-oriented para-
digm for mobile programming and
improve the skills of programmers.
Prof. Debasis Samanta, member of
the IIT Kharagpur faculty, will con-
duct the course.
The course would focus on Ob-
ject-Oriented Programming and
Java Networking in Java Encapsula-
tion, Java Programming Elements,
Inheritance Input-Output Handling
in Java Multithreaded Programming,
Exception Handling Java Swing and
Abstract Windowing Toolkit (AWT),
Java Applets and Servlets Interface,
Packages for Software Development,
and Java Object Database Connec-
tivity (ODC).
Enrolment for the course is open till
August 2, 2021. Examination regis-
tration will be open from June 17 to
September 17, 2021. The examina-
tion be held on October 23, 2021.

26 | May 2021 | Construction Philosophy


ESCI launches AICTE-recognised PG courses
Engineering Staff College of
India, an organ of the Institution of
Engineers (India), is offering a two-
year, full-time PGDM Infrastructure
Management, PGDM General Man-
agement and Industrial Safety and
Environment Management courses
recognised by the All India Council
for Technical Education (AICTE).
The courses with specialisation
in Civil, Power, Telecom, Transpor-
tation, Finance, HRM, Marketing,
Business Analytics and Operations
Management are open to graduates
from all streams provided they meet
minimum admission criteria.
The courses aim to equip students
with skills in the latest concepts of
IIT Kharagpur to be institute for GATE 2022
The Indian Institute of Technology
Kharagpur (IIT-KGP), has been cho-
sen the organising institute for the
Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineer-
ing (GATE) 2022.
GATE 2021 was organised by IIT
Bombay. Subhasis Chaudhri, Direc-
tor, IIT Bombay, has handed over the
chairmanship of NCB-GATE 2022 to
Edusphere
management, industry requirement
and international standards to enter
the global market and meet the
challenges of the 21st century. The
programmes have already built new
competencies and created a number
of outstanding managers and suc-
cessful entrepreneurs in all sectors of
LÕȘiÃÃ>˜`ˆ˜`ÕÃÌÀÞ]˜œÌ‡vœÀ‡«ÀœwÌ
organizations and public sector that
ÃiiŽŽ˜œÜi`}i>˜`«ÀœwVˆi˜VÞˆ˜
management.
Virendra Singh Tewari, Director, IIT
Kharagpur.
As many as 8,82,684 candidates
had applied for GATE 2021, which
marked a slight increase from 8.59
lakh applications last year. Among
the applicants, 14,196 had applied
for the newly introduced Humanities
subjects. This is more than the num-
Construction Philosophy | May 2021 | 27
These programmes give a holistic
perspective on business and provide
an opportunity to interact with highly
accomplished industry and academic
experts. They are designed to keep
pace with changing global trends, in-
dustry requirements and technology
innovations etc. The methodology
and tools of learning enable the stu-
dent to achieve business excellence
through innovative and managerial
skills.
ber of applications in nine existing
subjects out of 27 papers. The least
opted for paper in 2021 was Statis-
tics while the most sought-after sub-
ject remains mechanical engineering.
Among those who applied for Hu-
manities, most applicants—8,634—
were females. Overall, the number
of female applicants also saw a rise.
A total of 2,88,379 female students
had applied for GATE 2021. This was
an increase of about 10,000 from last
year.
Last year, IIT-Bombay had relaxed
the eligibility criteria to allow third-
year students also to take the exam.
Earlier, the eligibility was limited to
graduates or fourth-year students
only.
Deepankar Choudhury, organising
chairman of GATE 2021 explained
that the decision was taken to allow
third year students also to apply as
several university examinations could
not take place due to the Covid
pandemic, and in the others, results
have been delayed.
AICTE smart campus award: 8
TN colleges in final round
Three government-aided polytech-
˜ˆVVœi}iÃ]wÛii˜}ˆ˜iiÀˆ˜}Vœ-
leges including a State-run institution
>˜`wÛi`ii“i`̜Li՘ˆÛiÀÈ̈iÃ
ˆ˜/>“ˆ >`Õ…>Ûii˜ÌiÀi`̅iw˜>
round of evaluation to bag clean and
smart campus award 2020, instituted
by the All India Council for Technical
Education (AICTE).
The award aims to seek engage-
ment with all stakeholders, primarily
the student community, to draw
their attention towards the immense
scope and potential that technology
offers for abstract objectives such
as cleanliness, sustainability and the
environment.
The rising use of technologies,
especially IoT, robotics, cloud, and
automation, has immense potential
to re-model a campus into a smart
campus. Separate awards will be giv-
en to council-approved polytechnics,
IIT Kharagpur launches free online
course on IIoT and Industry 4.0
IIT Kharagpur offers an online
course on Industrial Internet of
Things (IIoT) and Industry 4.0 for stu-
dents of electronics and communica-
tion, computer science engineering,
electrical engineering, information
technology, industrial engineering,
and electrical engineering with
basic knowledge of the internet and
computers.
Dr. Sudip Misra, Professor of
Computer Science and Engineering
at the Indian Institute of Technol-
ogy Kharagpur, will conduct the
12-weeks course. He was associated
>˜`/…>À>}«ÕÀViÀ̈w-
with Yale University, Cornell Univer-
sity, the Government of Ontario, and
28 | May 2021 | Construction Philosophy
engineering colleges, and deemed
to be universities offering technical
courses.
After three rounds, govern-
ment-aided polytechnic colleges in-
cluding Thiagarajar Polytechnic Col-
lege, Salem, Murugappa Polytechnic
College, Chennai, and Rajagopal
Polytechnic College, Gudiyatham,
6iœÀi]i˜ÌiÀi`̅iw˜>ÀœÕ˜`œv
online evaluation conducted by the
expert panel in AICTE.
Five engineering colleges, in-
cluding one state-run institution,
…>Ûii˜ÌiÀi`̅iw˜>ÀœÕ˜`°ˆÛi
deemed to be universities in the
-Ì>Ìi…>Ûi>ÃœÀi>V…i`̅iw˜>
stage of evaluation.
These institutions have been
selected based on an assessment
of three areas such as cleanliness in
and around the campus and waste
minimization, water conservation and
Nortel Networks.
Syllabus covered in the free online
course at IIT Kharagpur are:
Industry 4.0: The Fourth Revolu-
tion, Globalization and Emerging
Issues, Smart and Connected Busi-
management, including wastewater
management, and reuse and rainwa-
ter harvesting, environment-friendly
activities adopted and practiced by
the campus and greenery within the
campus to provide pollution-free air.
On the smart campus criteria,
emphasis has been given to impact of
deployment of digital technology to
enable the students, faculty, and man-
agement to reduce consumption of
natural resources such as paper, gas,
and energy and to ‘smartly’ connect
and share information at the campus,
institute, and national level.
ness Perspective, LEAN Production
Systems and Smart Factories.
Introduction to Communication
- Part I & II, Sensing and Actuation
and Networking, Cyber-Physical Sys-
tem, Collaborative Platforms, Next
Generation sensors, Augmented
Reality, Product Lifecycle Manage-
ment, Advanced Analysis, Big Data,
ƂÀ̈wVˆ>˜Ìiˆ}i˜Vi>˜`6ˆÀÌÕ>
Reality.
IIoT: Introduction, Business Model,
and Reference Architecture.
Interested students can enrol
themselves till August 2, 2021. The
course will be available from July 26
to October 15, 2021. The partici-
pants can opt for an examination on
October 23 paying Rs 1000 to obtain
̅i */
cation. The students can enrol on the
œvwVˆ>ÜiLÈÌi° 

CSE announces
training programme
on GIS and Remote
Sensing
The Centre for Science and Environment an-
˜œÕ˜Vi`>˜œ˜ˆ˜i‡œvyˆ˜iÌÀ>ˆ˜ˆ˜}«Àœ}À>““iœ˜
Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote
Sensing to equip practitioners, managers and regu-
lators with state-of-art tools and techniques required
for water sensitive urban design and planning.
CSE had prepared a practitioner’s guide on
‘Green Infrastructure and Water Sensitive Urban
Design & Planning’ for the Ministry of Urban
Development (now called Ministry of Housing
and Urban Affairs), Government of India, as a key
reform agenda in sustainable water management
area within the existing urban fabric of a city/re-
gion or new development.
Green infrastructure contributes to water
security as one of the solutions to overcome the
emerging water management issues such as sus-
tainability water supply, moderation of extreme
yœœ`iÛi˜ÌÃ]Ài}Տ>̈œ˜œvÜ>ÌiÀµÕ>ˆÌÞ̅ÀœÕ}…
treatment of wastewater and local reuse.
Recently, CSE had published a web based -
‘Compendium of Green Infrastructure Network
Systems: C-GINs’ as a repository bringing to-
gether policy, programmes and plan approaches
and successfully successful implementation case
studies from within and outside India to help
practitioners learn water management issues in a
comprehensive manner. The proposed course is a
follow up on this.
This tailor-made training on Geographic Infor-
mation System (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS) will
go long way in supporting practitioners as well as
Edusphere
>œÜ“>˜>}iÀÃ>˜`Ài}Տ>̜ÀÓœÛiivwVˆi˜ÌÞ
from traditional planning and design techniques
to smart, cost effective and sustainable water and
sanitation solutions.
Its key objectives are as follows:
• Build skills to use GIS and RS in sustainable
water management in city/region.
• Enhance understanding on various data portals:
USGS Earth Explorer, Bhuvan, OpenStreetMap,
Toposheets, etc.
• Prepare maps and perform analysis using
open-source GIS packages for designing and
implementing green infrastructure for improved
water security in city/region.
Part A of the course would be online from June
ÓÎ̜ՏÞ™>˜`*>ÀÌ ܜՏ`Li…i`œvyˆ˜i
from July 28 to 30. The course will be run on
open-source GIS package, Quantum-GIS (Q-GIS).
Language of Instruction will be English.
The minimum system requirements are as
follows: Hard Disk Space: 5GB for installation, and
10GB for data and other GIS Files; RAM: 2GB;
Operating System: Windows 7 and above, Mac,
Linux; Graphic Card: 512MB/1GB; CPU-Processor:
Core-i3, 2.7 GHz
The training coordinator is Dhruv Pasricha,
*Àœ}À>““i"vwViÀ
Centre for Science and Environment, New
Delhi, India, Tel: +91-11-40616000, 29955124,
299956110 ext. 322; Mob. +91 8527447891
Email: dhruv.pasricha@cseindia.org
Construction Philosophy | May 2021 | 29
 Bentley Systems
acquires mobility
simulation leader INRO
Bentley Systems, the infrastructure engineering software
company, has acquired INRO Software, a global leader in
“Տ̈“œ`>ÌÀ>˜Ã«œÀÌ>̈œ˜«>˜˜ˆ˜}]ÌÀ>vwVȓՏ>̈œ˜]>˜`
mobility visualization software.
The acquisition expands Bentley’s capabilities in the im-
portant growth area of mobility digital twins, just as coun-
tries including the U.S. are poised to make a generational
investment in infrastructure, and as transportation systems
30 | May 2021 | Construction Philosophy
must evolve faster to accommodate both urbanization and
carbon reduction goals, and the transition to electric and
autonomous vehicles.
INRO, based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, has for more
than 40 years contributed to the advancement of mobility
simulation and modelling for metropolitan, regional, and na-
tional transport and transit operators and planning agencies.
Users of its multimodal simulation offerings include some

of the world’s busiest transit systems and metros, such
as Transport for London, Transport for New South Wales,
the Washington State Department of Transportation, the
-Üi`ˆÃ… /À>˜Ã«œÀÌ Ƃ`“ˆ˜ˆÃÌÀ>̈œ˜ /À>wŽÛiÀŽiÌ] >˜` ̅i
public transport system of São Paulo SPTrans.
INRO’s products include Emme, a multimodal transpor-
tation planning system for urban, regional, and national
transportation forecasting; Dynameq, a vehicle-based traf-
wV ȓՏ>̈œ˜ «>ÌvœÀ“ vœÀ VˆÌއ܈`i ÌÀ>vwV «>˜˜ˆ˜}Æ >˜`
CityPhi, a mobility visualization solution providing data vi-
sualization and visual analytics of large-scale mobility and
geospatial datasets.
œ“Lˆ˜ˆ˜} ̅i V>«>LˆˆÌˆià œv  ,"½Ã >`Û>˜Vi` ÌÀ>vwV
and vehicle simulation with Bentley’s passenger and pedes-
trian simulation and civil design software, including CUBE,
TECH WORLD
Streetlytics, LEGION, and OpenRoads, places Bentley in a
very strong position to deliver comprehensive mobility dig-
ital twins of multimodal transportation systems at urban,
metropolitan, regional, and national scale.
Urban planners are seeking to understand the ongoing
impacts—on transportation system performance, reliability,
and accessibility—of the new opportunities and challenges
of private and shared mobility, the propensity for cycling
or walking, connected autonomous vehicles, and potential
congestion charging. With respect to their traditionally cir-
cumscribed use of transportation modelling tools in isola-
tion and only on occasion, multiple advantages are now
attainable through mobility digital twins, which can be con-
tinuously updated with as-operated engineering conditions
>˜`܈̅œLÃiÀÛi`ÌÀ>vwV`>Ì>°œLˆˆÌÞ`ˆ}ˆÌ>Ì܈˜ÃLÀˆ˜}
these functions together so that infrastructure planning and
simulations can be continuously valuable throughout engi-
neering, construction, and operations.
The pandemic experience reinforces the resilience value
of sustaining “evergreen” planning and engineering mod-
iˆ˜}>˜`ȓՏ>̈œ˜̜“>ˆ˜Ì>ˆ˜w̘iÃÃvœÀ«ÕÀ«œÃi`ÕÀˆ˜}
unanticipated eventualities. With the priority now on
“building back better,” it is increasingly recognized that the
most economical way to augment infrastructure capacity,
while accomplishing the needed energy transitions toward
Vˆ“>ÌiÃÕÃÌ>ˆ˜>LˆˆÌÞ]ˆÃ̜œ«Ìˆ“ˆâi̅iṎˆâ>̈œ˜]Vœ˜w}-
uration, and life extension of existing mobility assets, while
adding integrated and appealing public transit options.
This requirement now sets the stage for mobility digital
twins that need to be multimodal, need detailed dynamic
ÌÀ>vwV >ÃÈ}˜“i˜Ì >˜` >}i˜Ì‡L>Ãi` “i̅œ`à vœÀ ÛiÀ>VˆÌÞ]
and need to scale up to system-wide and region-wide—
unique hallmarks of INRO. As the leader in infrastructure
digital twins, Bentley’s iTwin platform can now bring to-
gether—with the best-validated aggregate and individual
vehicle and pedestrian simulation—3D/4D continuous sur-
veying and reality modelling, civil engineering and project
delivery, and asset and network performance. Ultimately,
the opportunity for digital cities is to save their constituents
time in their day, while at the same time improving conges-
tion and climate resilience, and safety.
“We are very pleased to welcome INRO to Bentley Sys-
tems,” said Robert Mankowski, senior vice president, digi-
tal cities, Bentley Systems.
Dr. Michael Florian, founder of INRO, said, “Bentley is a
recognized leader in transportation across the infrastruc-
ture lifecycle from planning and design to heavy civil con-
struction and road network management. My colleagues
and I are very excited to join Bentley and to help realize
the vision shared by thousands of cities and urban regions
throughout the world to improve their sustainability and
quality of life.”
Construction Philosophy | May 2021 | 31
 TIGER GLOBAL LEADS $30 MILLION
INVESTMENT IN CONSTRUCTION
FINTECH COMPANY BRIQ
Àˆµ]܅ˆV……>Ã`iÛiœ«i`>w˜ÌiV…«>ÌvœÀ“ÕÃi`LÞ
œÀ«œ-
the construction industry, has raised $30 million in a Se-
ries B funding round led by Tiger Global Management.
/…iw˜>˜Vˆ˜}LÀˆ˜}à Àˆµ½Ã̜Ì>v՘`ˆ˜}̜f{Γˆ-
>Å] > Vœ˜ÃÌÀÕV̈œ˜‡Ã«iVˆwV L>˜Žˆ˜}
lion since its January 2018 inception. Existing backers
Eniac Ventures and Blackhorn Ventures also participat-
ed in the round.
Briq CEO and co-founder Bassem Hamdy is a for-
mer executive at construction tech giant Procore and
Canadian software giant CMiC. Wall Street veteran Ron
Goldshmidt is co-founder and COO.
Àˆµ`iÃVÀˆLiÈÌÃœvviÀˆ˜}>Ã>w˜>˜Vˆ>«>˜˜ˆ˜}>˜`
ܜÀŽyœÜ>Õ̜“>̈œ˜«>ÌvœÀ“̅>̼`À>Ã̈V>ÞÀi`ÕViý
̅ï“i̜À՘VÀˆÌˆV>w˜>˜Vˆ>«ÀœViÃÃiÃ]܅ˆiˆ˜VÀi>Ã-
ˆ˜}̅i>VVÕÀ>VÞœvvœÀiV>ÃÌÃ>˜`w˜>˜Vˆ>«>˜Ã°
Briq has developed a toolbox of proprietary tech-
nology that it says allows it to extract and manipulate
w˜>˜Vˆ>`>Ì>܈̅œÕÌ̅iÕÃiœvƂ*ðÌ>Ãœ…>Ã`iÛi-
œ«i`Vœ˜ÃÌÀÕV̈œ˜‡Ã«iVˆwV`>Ì>“œ`iÃ̅>Ì>œÜÈÌ̜
build out projections and create models of how much a
project might cost, and how much could conceivably be
made. Currently, Briq manages or forecasts about $30
billion in construction volume.
œÕÀÌiÃÞ\/iV…
À՘V…®
32 | May 2021 | Construction Philosophy
-«iVˆwV>Þ] Àˆµ…>ÃÌܜ“>ˆ˜œvviÀˆ˜}Ã\ Àˆµ½Ã
rate Performance Management (CPM) platform, which
“œ`iÃw˜>˜Vˆ>œÕÌVœ“iÃ>Ì̅i«ÀœiVÌ>˜`VœÀ«œÀ>Ìi
iÛi] >˜` Àˆµ
platform for managing invoices and payments.
Briq has 150 customers, and serves general and spe-
cialty contractors from $10 million to $1 billion in rev-
enue. They include Cafco Construction Management,
WestCor Companies and Choate Construction and
Harper Construction. The company is currently focused
on contractors in North America but does have long-
term plans to address larger international markets. Con-
struction tech startups are poised to shake up a $1.3-tril-
lion-dollar industry.
Hamdy came up with the idea for Santa Barbara, Cali-
vœÀ˜ˆ>‡L>Ãi` Àˆµ>vÌiÀÀi>ˆâˆ˜}̅iÛ>Ã̈˜ivwVˆi˜VˆiÃœ˜
̅iw˜>˜Vˆ>È`iœv̅iVœ˜ÃÌÀÕV̈œ˜ˆ˜`ÕÃÌÀÞ°ˆÃ}œ>
Ü>Ã̜`œvœÀVœ˜ÃÌÀÕV̈œ˜w˜>˜Vˆ>Ã܅>Ì*ÀœVœÀi`ˆ`̜
document management, and PlanGrid to construction
drawing. He started Briq with his own cash, amassed
through secondary sales as Procore climbed the ranks
of startups to become a construction industry unicorn.
­

GAME-CHANGING
GRAPHENE-ENHANCED
CONCRETE IS HERE
Graphene-enhanced concrete which holds the potential to
revolutionize the concrete industry and its impact on the en-
vironment is here.
A joint venture between graphene specialists at The Uni-
versity of Manchester and Nationwide Engineering, a con-
ÃÌÀÕV̈œ˜wÀ“i`LÞ̅i՘ˆÛiÀÈÌÞ>Õ“˜ˆ]…>Ã`iÛiœ«i`̅i
new concrete, which can remove 30% of material and all steel
reinforcement.
/…i Ìi>“ >ˆ` ̅i yœœÀ Ï>L œv > ˜iÜ }ޓ ˆ˜ Ƃ“iÃLÕÀÞ]
Wiltshire, with the graphene-enhanced concrete, which has
Lii˜V…ÀˆÃÌi˜i`¼
TECH WORLD
Government Crown commercial building frameworks. With
Network Rail committing to an 11% reduction in CO2 emis-
sions over the next four years, graphene-enhanced concrete
ŜÜÃÈ}˜ˆwV>˜Ì«œÌi˜Ìˆ>̜…i«“iiÌ̅ˆÃÌ>À}iÌ°
While there is still a long distance to travel between a low-
ÀˆÃŽ yœœÀ Ï>L >˜` ̅i «iÀvœÀ“>˜Vi ÀiµÕˆÀi“i˜Ìà œv …ˆ}…‡
speed rail, a 30% reduction in material across a range of en-
}ˆ˜iiÀˆ˜}>««ˆV>̈œ˜ÃܜՏ`“>Ži>È}˜ˆwV>˜Ì`ˆvviÀi˜Vi̜
environmental impact and costs in the construction industry.
If rolled out across the global building industry supply chain,
œ˜VÀiÌi˜i½°i«i˜`ˆ˜}œ˜̅iÈâiœvœ˜- the technology has the potential to shave 2% off worldwide
ward projects, Nationwide Engineering estimates a 10-20% emissions.
saving to its customers if they use Concretene. How does graphene-enhanced concrete work?
Production of cement for concrete in the building industry is Liquid concrete sets into its solid form through chemical
one of the leading causes of global carbon dioxide emissions. reactions known as hydration and gelation, where the water
If concrete were a country, it would be the third largest emitter and cement in the mixture react to form a paste that dries and
in the world behind only China and the US, producing around hardens over time. Graphene makes a difference by acting as
8% of global CO2 emissions. a mechanical support and as a catalyst surface for the initial
/…i>``ˆÌˆœ˜œv̈˜Þ>“œÕ˜ÌÃœv}À>«…i˜ip>܇V>i`¼Ó
material’ made of a single layer of carbon atoms — strength-
ens Concretene by around 30% compared to standard RC30
Vœ˜VÀiÌi] “i>˜ˆ˜} È}˜ˆwV>˜ÌÞ iÃà µÕ>˜ÌˆÌÞ œv Vœ˜VÀiÌi ˆÃ
needed to achieve the equivalent structural performance.
What could this mean for the building industry?
>̈œ˜Üˆ`i
˜}ˆ˜iiÀˆ˜} …>à ̅Àii i݈Ã̈˜} wÛi‡Þi>À Vœ˜- directly to the client.
struction frameworks with Network Rail and two seven-year
œÕÀÌiÃÞ\-Vˆ/
hydration reaction, leading to better bonding at microscopic
ÃV>i>˜`}ˆÛˆ˜}̅iw˜ˆÃ…i`«Àœ`ÕV̈“«ÀœÛi`ÃÌÀi˜}̅]`Õ-
rability and corrosion resistance.
Crucially, Concretene can be used just like standard con-
crete, meaning no new equipment or training is needed in the
batching or laying process, and cost-savings can be passed
­
V…>ˆÞ®    

Construction Philosophy | May 2021 | 33

 PRODUCT WORLD

Glass Coat
from Swish
Coatings
For magical shades
and total privacy

Thatatt is where the Glass Coat scores big. With a

single
sing
ngglee coat, Glass Coat gives the panels a ground-
}>Ãà w˜ˆÃ… }ˆÛˆ˜} ̅i `iÈÀi` «ÀˆÛ>VÞ ܈̅ˆ˜ ̅i
cabins/showrooms during day and night. The most
cabin
interesting feature of the Glass Coat is that it can be
intere
removed easily with a 'coating remover solution', a
remov
product of Swish Coatings, without causing scratches
produ
on ththe panels. Thus, the panels can be re-coated
with
wi
w ith a fresh colour tint to match the walls or for other
aesthetic
aest
ae sth h reasons later.
The following
f are the key features of Glass Coat:

A f
fter introducing
i d i R
Rooff Shield
Shi ld and
d Roof
R f Cool-
018 meant for Roofs and Walls, Swish
Coatings has now launched another innovative
C l
• Retards transfer of heat and thus reduces heat
gain in summer and heat loss in winter in the
rooms/cabins/showrooms.
product, Glass Coat, to protect plain glass panels
U ˆÛiÃ}ÀœÕ˜`‡}>ÃÃw˜ˆÃ…>˜`ÌÀ>˜ÃÕVi˜Ìw˜ˆÃ…
of windows and partitions exposed to sunlight.
• Glass Coat can be applied on all types of plain
With a single coat of Glass Coat, the glass panels
glasses
LiVœ“i ܏>À ÀiyiV̈Ûi] ̅iÀ“> ˆ˜ÃՏ>̈Ûi]
• It has high waterproof properties
acoustic insulative and water repellent.
• Glass Coat bonds well with plain glass
Swish Coatings' Glass Coat is the answer to many • It has high UV resistance values
troubling issues that stickers normally used to • It is long lasting
reduce heat inside cabins or showrooms throw • Glass Coat is easy to apply. Can be applied with
up. Apart from the stickers peeling off, common a spray gun
stickers leave the interiors of cabins transparent • A 2-kg pack can cover about 200 sq.ft.
when lights are switched on. Worse, persons • Glass panels can be re-coated with Glass Coat as
sitting inside cannot see the persons standing on and when required
the other side of the panels. • Glass Coat is most economical.

34 | March 2021 | Construction Philosophy

Construction Philosophy | May 2021 | 35
 Pimpri-Chinchwad holds
huge potential to attract
investments: Colliers
Pimpri-Chinchwad, located at the north-western limits of
Pune, is a fast-growing commercial node in Maharashtra
and holds huge potential to attract investments in the
coming years, says a study by Colliers.

Modern infrastructural facilities and land availabil-
ity at affordable rates would make this an attractive
investment destination, both in the medium and
long terms. “Cities are engines of growth. They also
go through internal transformation that creates op-
portunities for investors and occupiers,” notes Sub-
hankar Mitra, Managing Director, Advisory Services
­˜`ˆ>®>Ì
œˆiÀÃ]Vœ““i˜Ìˆ˜}œ˜̅iw˜`ˆ˜}ÃÀi>Ì- forward. However, rental appreciation is likely to be
ing to Pimpri-Chinchwad.
The region had registered 79% of half yearly leas-
ing during Q1 of 2020. The IT-BPM sector accounted
for 81% of the major leasing in the region, followed
LÞ yi݈Li ܜÀŽÃ«>Vi œ«iÀ>̜Àà ܅œ ̜œŽ > £x¯
share. Pune saw 3.49 million square feet new sup-
ply during 2020. City-wide rental values remained
consistent during 2020 and is unlikely to fall going
gradual. For the period 2019-2024, city-wide rental

36 | May 2021 | Construction Philosophy


values are likely to rise only marginally at a CAGR of
0.6%, the study says.
Colliers also does not see vacancy rates rising in
-Vœ““iÀVˆ>œvwViÃ
̅i>Ài>vœÀ̅i˜iÝÌ̅ÀiiµÕ>ÀÌiÀÃ]iëiVˆ>Þ}ˆÛi˜
the likely delay in supply of the new development in
̅iÀi}ˆœ˜°ƂÃ̅iœvwVi…ÕLÃ…>ÛiÃÌ>ÀÌi`Ã>ÌÕÀ>̈˜}
due to limited availability of land for development
and uplifting infrastructure, locations like Pimpri,
Wagholi and its nearby areas with supply of land
parcels and low prices are gaining importance.
Like in case of Mumbai, industrial hubs are now
getting converted to IT parks and commercial parks
(MIDC Andheri, Mahape, etc.) due to shortage
of supply in the suburban areas of the city. Similar
ÃVi˜>ÀˆœV>˜LiiÝ«iVÌi`ˆ˜̅i*ˆ“«Àˆ‡
…ˆ˜V…Ü>` of consultants, lawyers and other players in the mi-
micro market. Currently, the Pimpri micro-market is
dominated by residential developments and overall
Ã>iÀ>Ìi
Ƃ,¯ˆ˜̅i>ÃÌxÞi>ÀÈÜLÃiÀÛi`̜Li market shall offer spaces in balanced leasing and
about 2.43%. The micro-market has out-performed
the other nodal areas in the Pune city.
Pimpri-Chinchwad Node now has a commercial
stock of about 2 million, which is majorly a rental
driven market. The largest commercial development
is ICC Devi Gaurav Tech Park, which is about 0.86
million square feet (79,897 sq. m). The rest of the
`iÛiœ«“i˜ÌÃ>Àiˆ˜̅iÀ>˜}iœv>LœÕÌä°£x“ˆˆœ˜
õÕ>ÀiviiÌ­£Î]™Îxõ°“®ˆ˜̅i“ˆVÀœ‡“>ÀŽiÌ°/…i
Vœ““iÀVˆ>œvwVi“>ÀŽï˜*ˆ“«ÀˆˆÃˆ˜Vˆ˜i`“œÀi
towards leasing rather than purchase.
Given the presence of emerging IT-ITES and man-
FOCUS
ufacturing industries in the region, developers are
iÝ«iV̈˜}Vœ˜Ìˆ˜ÕœÕÃ>««ÀiVˆ>̈œ˜ˆ˜Ài˜Ì>Û>Õið
œÜiÛiÀ]̅iÓ>‡ÃV>i/‡/
Ìi˜` ̜ LÕÞ «Àœ«iÀÌÞ œÕÌÀˆ}…Ì >à ÃiÛiÀ> “œ`ˆwV>-
tions might be required for the intended use. Com-
mercial projects currently present in the locality serve
as an ancillary support to the IT-BPM sector. Current
Rentals are at par with “Sub-Dollar Strategy” as pre-
ferred by most of the IT companies across the world
̜œV>Ìi̅iˆÀœvwVië>Vi°
The Municipal Corporation of Pimpri-Chinchwad
…>à ňvÌi` ̅iˆÀ …i>` œvwVi ̜ œV>̈œ˜ ˜i>À ̅i
Pimpri Railway Station, which should trigger devel-
œ«“i˜Ì œv LœṎµÕi œvwVià V>ÌiÀˆ˜} ̜ `i“>˜`Ã
cro-market. This demand is likely to inclined more
̜̅iÃÌÀ>Ì>`ÀˆÛi˜œvwVië>Við/…ÕÃ]̅iœÛiÀ>
strata basis.
Currently, there is about 1.1 million sq. ft of or-
ganized retail development in the micro-market.
There are upcoming retail developments in the
Hinjewadi/ Wakad areas, the most prominent
>“œ˜}̅i“Liˆ˜}̅i*…œi˜ˆÝ>ÀŽiÌVˆÌÞ°>VŽ
œv«ÀiÃi˜ViœvÀ>`i‡ƂœvwVië>VivœÀ̅iˆ˜`ÕÃ-
trial and for other ancillary support systems can
i>`̜vÕÀ̅iÀ`i“>˜`vœÀVœ““iÀVˆ>œvwVi«Àœ-
ects. The affordable rentals in the Pimpri region
can also help accelerate the commercial develop-
ment of the region, Colliers says.
Construction Philosophy | May 2021 | 37
 L&T Construction
order book swells
India will have its longest expressway as a new
year gift next year with the anticipated commis-
sioning of the 1350-km expressway linking Mum-
bai and Delhi. The expressway will reduce the trav-
el time between the two metros to just 12 hours.
The expressway, covering the states of Haryana,
Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharash-
tra, is being constructed at a cost of Rs 90,000 crore.
Initially, it will have eight lanes. Later, it will be broad-
i˜i`vÕÀ̅iÀ̜£Ó>˜iÃ`i«i˜`ˆ˜}œ˜ÌÀ>vwVyœÜ°
The expressway will be illuminated at night and
ÌÀ>vwVˆ}…ÌÃi˜iÀ}ˆÃi`LÞ`À>܈˜}«œÜiÀvÀœ“̅i
Adani Green strikes deal
with SB Energy India
Adani Green Energy Ltd. Has struck a record deal
܈̅ -œvÌ >˜Ž ÀœÕ«½Ã - 
˜iÀ}Þ ˜`ˆ>° 7ˆÌ… ̅ˆÃ] i˜ÌiÀ«ÀˆÃiÛ>ÕiœvfΰxLˆˆœ˜°- 
˜iÀ}Þ«œÀÌvœˆœ
ReNew Power, Greenko Energy Holdings and Adani
Green have emerged as the three big renewable en-
iÀ}ÞwÀ“Ș˜`ˆ>°
˜iÀ}Þ]܈̅ …>À̈ÀœÕ«…œ`-
Ƃ ̅Àii wÀ“à ˜œÜ œÜ˜ > Ài˜iÜ>Lià «œÀÌvœˆœ
that exceeds 10 gigawatts in capacity, have equity
infusions close to $1 billion or more since the start of
2020, complex renewables projects in the pipeline,
>À}i`iLÌv՘`ˆ˜}>˜``ˆÛiÀÈwV>̈œ˜>VÀœÃÃ̅iÛ>-
ue chain.
/…i`i>LiÌÜii˜Ƃ`>˜ˆÀii˜
˜iÀ}Þ>˜`-œvÌ- projects.
38 | April 2021 | Construction Philosophy
«œÜiÀ }Àˆ`à œv ̅i wÛi -Ì>Ìià >˜` Ì>««ˆ˜} ܏>À
energy. It will have multi-fuel supply facilities, in-
cluding EV charging stations and hydrogen fuel
pumps, along with scores of motels, food courts
and restaurants. Around 2 million saplings are be-
ing planted on either side of the carriageway and
service roads.
There would be helipads and comprehensive
trauma care centres to attend to emergencies. The
expressway is expected to generate 19,000 man-
years of employment and result in heavy savings in
fossil fuels, roughly 320 million litres a year.
>˜Ž½ÃÀi˜iÜ>Li>ÃÃiÌȘ˜`ˆ>ˆÃÃÌ>Ìi`̜…>Ûi>˜
Vœ˜ÃˆÃÌà œv >“œÃÌ x 7 œv ܏>À >˜` ܈˜` >ÃÃiÌÃ]
œv܅ˆV…£°{7>ÀiVÕÀÀi˜ÌÞœ«iÀ>̈œ˜>°-œvÌ >˜Ž
…>`nä¯ÃÌ>Žiˆ˜- 
ing the remaining 20%.
*ÀˆœÀ̜̅i-œvÌ >˜Ž`i>]Ƃ`>˜ˆÀii˜…>`Ãi-
cured capital from both equity and debt markets.
The company in March 2021 also closed a $1.35-bil-
ˆœ˜ÀiۜÛˆ˜}«ÀœiVÌw˜>˜Viv>VˆˆÌÞvÀœ“£Óˆ˜ÌiÀ˜>-
̈œ˜>L>˜ŽÃ̜w˜>˜Viœ˜iœvˆÌÃ՘`iÀ‡Vœ˜ÃÌÀÕV̈œ˜
 BIG INFRA WORLD

NHPC awards Rs. 188-crore

contract to Tata Power
Solar Systems
/…i -Ì>Ìi‡À՘ *
 ˆ“ˆÌi` …>à «>Vi` >˜ >˜`“>ˆ˜Ìi˜>˜Vi®vœÀ£äÞi>Àð/…i«œÜiÀ}i˜-
œÀ`iÀܜÀ̅,ãnn°£™VÀœÀi܈̅/>Ì>*œÜiÀ-œ- erated from the project will be procured by Grid
>À-ÞÃÌi“Ã̜ÃiÌÕ«>{ä“i}>Ü>ÌÌ­7®܏>À
œÀ«œÀ>̈œ˜ œv "`ˆÃ…> ­,
"® vœÀ ̅i i˜ÌˆÀi
power project at Ganjam, in Odisha. project life of 25 years.
The contract also includes work of associated The project has been sanctioned by MoNRE
220 KV transmission line for connectivity at 220 ­ˆ˜ˆÃÌÀÞœv iÜ>˜`,i˜iÜ>Li ˜iÀ}Þ®՘`iÀ
6 "*/
 /À>˜Ã“ˆÃȜ˜ -ÞÃÌi“ ̅ÀœÕ}… ˆœ ̅i -œ>À *>ÀŽ -V…i“i >˜` ˆÃ ÃV…i`Տi` ̜ Li
*ÀœÛˆÃˆœ˜ >˜` Vœ“«Ài…i˜ÃˆÛi "E ­œ«iÀ>̈œ˜ commissioned within a period of 12 months.

Construction Philosophy | May 2021 | 39

 Centre approves two
phases of Bengaluru
Metro project

/…i
i˜ÌÀ>œÛiÀ˜“i˜Ì…>Ã>««ÀœÛi`̅i i˜- ivwVˆi˜Ì>˜`ivviV̈Ûi“>˜˜iÀ>˜`܈ÃÌÀi>“ˆ˜i̅i
}>ÕÀÕiÌÀœ,>ˆ*ÀœiVÌ*…>ÃiÓƂ>˜`Ó ]>xn°£™‡ VˆÌÞ½ÃÕÀL>˜ÌÀ>˜Ã«œÀÌ>̈œ˜ÃÞÃÌi“°/…i->˜V̈œ˜"À-
Ž“ ÃÌÀiÌV… vÀœ“
i˜ÌÀ> -ˆŽ œ>À` ՘V̈œ˜ ̜ ̅i `iÀœv >˜}>œÀiiÌÀœ,>ˆ*ÀœiVÌ*…>ÃiÓƂEÓn
ˆ˜ÌiÀ˜>̈œ˜>>ˆÀ«œÀÌۈ>iLL>՘V̈œ˜° has been issued today.”
According to Union Minister for Chemicals and The project will streamline the urban transporta-
iÀ̈ˆÃiÀÃ°6°->`>˜>˜`>œÜ`>]̅i«ÀœiVÌ]iÃ̈- ̈œ˜ ÃÞÃÌi“ ˆ˜ i˜}>ÕÀÕ] ܅ˆV… ˆÃ ÃÌÀiÃÃi` `Õi ̜
mated to cost Rs 14,788 crore, will be completed in intensive developments, increase in the number of
wÛiÞi>ÀÃvÀœ“̅i`>ÌiœvÃ>˜V̈œ˜° private vehicles and heavy construction in the city
ƂÃÌ>Ìi“i˜ÌLÞ̅i i˜}>ÕÀÕiÌÀœ,>ˆ
œÀ«œ- putting stress on travel infrastructure and industrial
À>̈œ˜ ˆ“ˆÌi` ­ ,
® Ã>ˆ`] º/…i «ÀœiVÌ ˆ˜ÛœÛià activities and provide the people a safe, secure, reli-
integration with other urban transport systems in an able and comfortable public transport.

40 | May 2021 | Construction Philosophy

 BIG INFRA WORLD

Bengaluru Metro issues work

order for 57-km stretch
/…i i˜}>ÕÀÕ iÌÀœ …>à ˆÃÃÕi` ܜÀŽ œÀ`iÀ ders among 9 in October 2020.
vœÀ Vœ˜ÃÌÀÕV̈œ˜ œv ̅i £n°ÓÎȇŽ“
i˜ÌÀ> -ˆŽ- /…i £ÃÌ «>VŽ>}i ­-ˆŽLœ>À`‡œ`ˆLiiÃ>˜>…>ˆ®
Lœ>À`‡,*ÕÀ>“­*…>ÃiÓƂ®«ÀœiVÌœv̅ixLJŽ“ includes a 9.859 km viaduct, 6 elevated stations
Õiˆ˜i̜ƂvVœ˜Ã˜vÀ>ÃÌÀÕVÌÕÀiÌ`°>˜`-…>˜- >˜`>ÀœÕ}…ÞÓ°n{‡Ž“œ˜}yޜÛiÀ܈̅œœ«Ã>Ì
karanarayana Constructions Pvt. Ltd.
i˜ÌÀ> -ˆŽLœ>À`° /…i Ә` «>VŽ>}i ­œ`ˆLii-
/i˜`iÀà vœÀ ̅ˆÃ iiÛ>Ìi` ˆ˜i½Ã Vœ˜ÃÌÀÕV̈œ˜ œ˜ Ã>˜>…>ˆ‡,*ÕÀ>“®ˆ˜VÕ`iÃ>n°ÎÇLJŽ“ۈ>`ÕVÌ]
̅i "ÕÌiÀ ,ˆ˜} ,œ>` ÜiÀi ˆ˜ÛˆÌi` LÞ i˜}>ÕÀÕ 7 elevated stations, a 1.097-km depot-line linking
iÌÀœ,>ˆ
œÀ«œÀ>̈œ˜Ì`°­ ,
®ˆ˜iVi“LiÀ ̜ ̅i i݈Ã̈˜} >ˆÞ>«>˜>…>ˆ i«œÌ >˜` > ä°Îä
Ó䣙]>˜`LœÌ…wÀ“Ãi“iÀ}i`>Ã̅iœÜiÃÌLˆ`-
Coastal road connecting
Kozhikode with Kochi mooted
Kerala government is considering a proposal to
develop a coastal road connecting Kozhikode in the
north to Kochi in Central Kerala.
The project can take off if a bridge connecting
iÞ«œÀi ̜ œâ…ˆŽœ`i Li>V… ̅ÀœÕ}… ̅i i݈Ã̈˜}
œÌ…ˆ Àˆ`}iˆÃVœ˜ÃÌÀÕVÌi`°/…ˆÃܜՏ`ÀiÃՏ̈˜̅i
distance between the two cities getting reduced by
at least 25 km. Now the road between Kozhikode
and Kochi covers more than 195 km.
Now travellers use the jhanker ferry service oper-
>̈˜} LiÌÜii˜ iÞ«œÀi >˜`
…>ˆÞ>“ ̅ÀœÕ}… ̅i an ocean-drive highway beginning from Ponnani,
Chaliyar river. The proposed road will join National
Highway 66 at Ponnani and touch Chavakkad, Ko-
…>ˆÞ>“] iÞ«œÀi]>À>`]>>ˆ]œâ…ˆŽœ`i
dungallur, and Vypeen and reach Kochi.
km pocket track.
/…ii>ÃÞVœ˜˜iV̈ۈÌÞLiÌÜii˜ iÞ«œÀi>˜`œ-
V…ˆ «œÀÌà LÞ Àœ>` ܜՏ` i>Ãi Vœ˜Ì>ˆ˜iÀ ÌÀ>vwV] Li-
sides, enhancing infrastructure development and
economic activity in the coastal region. This project
܈Li˜iwÌVœ>ÃÌ>Ài}ˆœ˜ÃÃÕV…>Ã/>˜ÕÀ]/ˆÀÕÀ]*œ˜-
nani, Guruvayur, Nattika, and Kodungallur.
-ÕÀÛiÞà …>Ûi >Ài>`Þ Lii˜ V>ÀÀˆi` œÕÌ vœÀ ̅i
construction of bridges at Kottakkal-Vadakara sand-
L>˜ŽÃ >˜` >Ì iÞ«œÀi° /…i «Àœ«œÃ> ˆÃ ̜ >`œ«Ì >
total width for the road at 14 metres. This will be
passing through Tirur, Tanur, Parappanangadi, Kada-
Õ˜`ˆ]
i>V…Àœ>`>˜`VՏ“ˆ˜>̈˜}>Ì6i˜}>>“° 
Construction Philosophy | May 2021 | 41
Britain to sign tech, energy pacts with UAE
Britan is gearing up to sign
multi-billion pounds deals with the
United Arab Emirates (UAE) cov-
ering clean energy and different
tech segments. The deals could be
signed as early as this summer.
The agreements would in a way
mark reciprocation of the com-
mitment made by the Abu Dha-
bi-owned Mubadala Investment
Company to invest around £800
million in British life sciences over
the next five years. Among the
deals would be a £1 billion tech
deal, possibly in the fintech sector.
The deals will be spearhead-
ed by the newly formed UAE-UK
TCS launches TCS Pace Port Amsterdam
Tata Consultancy Services Ltd.
(TCS), India’s largest software ser-
vices exporter, has launched TCS
Pace Port Amsterdam, a co-innova-
tion and advanced research centre
in the capital of the Netherlands.
This is the third co-innovation
centre by TCS, after New York and
Tokyo, in its network of physical-dig-
ital innovation hubs. The central
objective of these centres is to
provide a framework for the compa-
ny's clients to ideate better, work on
creative solutions faster, and focus
efforts on more purpose-driven
business needs.
According to the company, the
42 | May 2021 | Construction Philosophy
Sovereign Investment Partnership
(SIP). The deals would serve as a
coordinated investment framework
to nurture future-focused rela-
tionship between the two nations,
driving economic recovery, jobs
and growth. As of 2019, UK-UAE
trade and investment ties stood at
£32 billion.
Mubadala has been a long-
standing partner to the UK for
many years with its clean growth
subsidiary Masdar, which has
several clean energy investments
in Britain. It has also invested £35
million in Britain’s electronic vehi-
cle charging infrastructure fund.
TCS Amsterdam innovation centre
will have an ecosystem of partners
from academia, government institu-
tions, start-ups and technology pro-
viders and will serve as a hub for TCS
teams to co-innovate with European
customers, "guiding them through
̅i`ˆÃVœÛiÀÞ]`iw˜ˆÌˆœ˜]Àiw˜i“i˜Ì
and delivery phases of innovation”.
The centre will also provide rapid
prototyping capabilities with a focus
œ˜w˜`ˆ˜}>˜`VÀi>̈˜}ÃÕÃÌ>ˆ˜>Li
solutions. “TCS believes that collab-
orative innovation, harnessing the
collective knowledge of an ecosys-
tem of partners can help companies
realize their purpose and build a
As the Gulf moves forward with
its ambitious green energy pro-
grammes, Britain is set to play a
major role in the region’s decar-
bonisation vision. The Gulf region
overall is aiming to slash annual
water use by 16%, save 400 mil-
lion barrels of oil, create close to
210,000 jobs and reduce its per
capita carbon footprint by 8% by
2030.
The Middle East is Britain’s
third-largest export market outside
the EU, after the US and China.
Total trade in goods and services
between the UK and the bloc to-
talled £44.5 billion in 2019.
greater future,” said Sapthagiri Cha-
palapalli, head of TCS Europe.
Diederik Samsom, Head of Cab-
inet for European Green Deal &
Executive VP, European Commission
Frans Timmermans, said, “As part of
the European Commission, our aim
for the Green New Deal is to create
a comprehensive, ambitious plan for
a green future driven by technology.
That is why I welcome initiatives like
TCS PACE that can bring together
digital capabilities, an innovative
mindset and collaborative ecosys-
tems to help European businesses
work together to build a greener,
more sustainable Europe.”
Relief for low-income families in the U.S.
Low-income families in the U.S. are
set to make gains with the Federal
Housing Finance Agency announc-
ˆ˜}>˜iÜÀiw˜>˜Viœ«Ìˆœ˜>ˆ“i`>Ì
helping them take advantage of low
interest rates.
ƂÌ…œÕ}…̅iÀiÜ>Ã>눎iˆ˜Àiw-
nances last year, more than 2 million
low-income families could not take
advantage of the record low mort-
}>}iÀ>ÌiÃ̅ÀœÕ}…Àiw˜>˜Vˆ˜}°
According to FHFA Director Mark

>>LÀˆ>]̅i˜iÜÀiw˜>˜Viœ«Ìˆœ˜ˆÃ
designed to help eligible borrowers,
܅œ…>Ûi˜œÌ>Ài>`ÞÀiw˜>˜Vi`]
save between $1,200 and $3,000
a year on their mortgage payment.
/œµÕ>ˆvÞvœÀ̅iÀiw˜>˜Viv>VˆˆÌÞ]
borrowers must have a Fannie Mae or generally good standing - with no option could save borrowers an av-
Freddie Mac backed loan, for a sin- missed repayments in the past six erage of $100 to $250 a month. The
gle- family home that they reside in. months and no more than one missed ˜iÜÀiw˜>˜Viœ«Ìˆœ˜܈Li>Û>ˆ>Li
Their income must be at or below payment in the past 12 months. to eligible borrowers beginning this
80% of the median income for their FHFA, which oversees Fannie and summer.
area and their loan needs to be in Ài``ˆi]iÃ̈“>ÌiÃ̅iÀiw˜>˜Vˆ˜}

&KLQHVH²UPEDJV6UL/DQND
VNH\
highway contract
China Harbour Engineering Com-
«>˜Þ­

®…>ÃLiVœ“i̅iwÀÃÌvœÀ- metre (10.5-mile), four-lane highway
eign owner of a Sri Lankan highway.
The Sri Lanka Cabinet has decided to
in three years. CHEC will the right to
award the contract to build a 17-kilo-
ity studies on the project said it could
in the capital Colombo to CHEC.
The highway is to be constructed
run the highway for 15 years before
transferring ownership back to Sri
>˜Ž>°"vwVˆ>Ãˆ˜ÛœÛi`܈̅vi>ÈLˆ-
cost up to US$1 billion to build.
The Sri Lankan Cabinet decision
came a week after the government
conferred tax-free status to the
Chinese-built Colombo Port City, the
largest single foreign investment in
Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka last year scrapped a
$1.5-billion, Japanese-funded light
rail project, saying it was not a
‘cost-effective solution’ for congested
Colombo. In March, the government
had offered a strategically located
deep-sea port to India and Japan, a
month after abruptly pulling out of
an earlier agreement with Delhi and
Tokyo to jointly develop another ter-
minal next to a Chinese-run container
jetty.

Construction Philosophy | May 2021 | 43

House sales zoom in Singapore
Property sales are on the upswing
in Singapore despite the City State
posting its worst recession during the
Covid-19 pandemic and Government
warning about the overheated hous-
ing market.
People have been on a buying
spree taking advantage of low inter-
iÃÌÀ>ÌiÃ]Vœ˜w`i˜Viˆ˜«Àœ«iÀÌÞ¿Ã
long-term safety and a fear of missing
out on the favourable market situa-
tion before the Government steps in.
House prices rose has been rising
>˜`ˆÌÀœÃiœ˜Vi>}>ˆ˜ˆ˜̅iwÀÃÌ
quarter of 2021, with the private
home market up 3.3%, its steepest
rise in nearly three years.
Authorities in Singapore, where real
estate is a safe haven investment for
wealthy foreigners, keep close tabs
on property prices to ensure housing
remains affordable for locals and stays
in step with economic fundamentals.
They began advising prudence late
last year given the risk of rising inter-
est rates. However, the buyers are in
no mood to relent and this has been
further driving up sales.
Government tools to cool the
market include boosting stamp duties
44 | May 2021 | Construction Philosophy
on foreign buyers and investors with
multiple homes, or increasing the
proportion of down-payments. It can
also increase land supply through
tenders.
Private home prices fell 11.6% from
a 2013 peak over a span of 15 quar-
ters after the government took steps
to curb a housing market boom as
Singapore emerged from the global
w˜>˜Vˆ>VÀˆÃˆÃ°
The government last tightened
curbs in 2018 after prices rose about
9% over a year and analysts expect
it to act again as the city-state's eco-
nomic recovery from the pandemic is
uneven and near-term wage growth
remains muted.
/œÌ>ÌÀ>˜Ã>V̈œ˜Ãˆ˜̅iwÀÃ̵Õ>ÀÌiÀ
nearly doubled from a year ago,
touching their highest in at least two
years. Property in land-scarce Singa-
pore has long attracted the super-rich
from around Asia, with political un-
certainty in rival Hong Kong helping
boost that appeal. And even if prices
fall in the near-term from recent
…ˆ}…Ã]LÕÞiÀÃ>ÀiVœ˜w`i˜Ì̅iÞ܈
not stay low forever.
&LW\RI/RQGRQWR
WXUQHPSW\RI²FHV
into homes
"vwViȘœ˜`œ˜¿Ãw˜>˜Vˆ>`ˆÃÌÀˆVÌ
left empty by the pandemic will be
transformed into at least 1,500 new
homes by the end of the decade,
the City of London Corporation has
announced.
The announcement came as many
œvwViܜÀŽiÀëiÀ“>˜i˜ÌÞ>`œ«Ìi`
remote work during the pandemic,
leaving prime real estate vacant. The
Corporation plans to work with the
property industry to refurbish and
develop deserted buildings.
Alistair Moss, Corporation's head of
planning and transportation, the city,
home to some of the world's major
LÕiV…ˆ«wÀ“Ã]ܜՏ`¸>`>«Ì>˜`
prove resilient” and “work even more
closely with the property sector to pro-
“œÌiˆ˜VÀi>Ș}ÞÃÕÃÌ>ˆ˜>Li]yi݈Li
and adaptable buildings that people
will thrive in".
In a new report, titled "The Square
Mile: Future City", the Corporation
ˆ`i˜Ìˆwi`«ÀˆœÀˆÌˆiÃvœÀ̅i˜iÝÌwÛi
years after consulting the public and
captains of industry.
It was produced by the city’s Recovery
Taskforce, which was formed in response
̜̅i«>˜`i“ˆV̜`iw˜i>“œÀiˆ˜VÕ-
sive, innovative and sustainable vision
vœÀ̅iVˆÌÞœÛiÀ̅i˜iÝÌwÛiÞi>Àð
In February, the city put cultur-
al regeneration at the centre of its
post-pandemic recovery plan by com-
mitting to an upgrade of its landmark
Barbican Centre for the arts. Further
funding for the London Symphony
Orchestra and the City's Culture Mile
project was also granted.
5HDO(VWDWHIUHQ]\LQ&DQDGDWRSHDNLQ
The booming home sales in
Canada is set to ease in 2022, but
will remain at an elevated level both
in terms of prices and number of
transactions, according to the Canada
Mortgage & Housing Corp.
The number of homes to change
hands could climb as high as 602,300
this year from about 550,000 sales
seen last year, according to a report
released by the agency. That could
push the average price for a home in
Canada as high as C$649,400 (about
$533,000), a 14% rise from last year.
Low interest rates, combined with
a demand for more space to ride
out the pandemic, have pushed the
Canadian housing market to extraor-
dinary heights over the past year,
with annual price gains of more than
30% seen in some communities. With
vaccine distribution accelerating and
the economy recovering quicker than
expected, some of the drivers of the
frenzy may begin to unwind.
“Economic conditions are expected
to return to pre-pandemic levels by
the end of 2023, if broad immunity
to Covid-19 takes hold by the end
of 2021,” Bob Dugan, CMHC’s chief
economist, said in a statement includ-
ed in the report. “This includes the
pace of home sales and prices, which
we expect to see moderate from
2020 highs over the same period.”
With faster economic growth,
CMHC predicts Canada’s standard
wÛi‡Þi>À“œÀÌ}>}iÀ>Ìi܈ÀˆÃi]
though it will likely stay at very low
levels by historical standards. Unusu-
ally high savings rates, driven by peo-
ple having less opportunity to spend
Construction Philosophy | May 2021 | 45
during the pandemic, are expected to
fall, the agency said.
The higher demand for single-fam-
ily homes brought on by intermittent
lockdowns, meanwhile, will cause
developers and construction compa-
nies to shift in that direction, CMHC
predicted. Renewed immigration will
bring demand for rental accommo-
dation back to cities that have seen
vacancies rise and rents fall.
Ƃ“ˆ`̅ˆÃVœ˜yÕi˜Viœvv>V̜ÀÃ]
CMHC predicts the number of homes
sold across Canada in 2022 and 2023
will be less than this year, though still
more than the number sold in 2019.
Prices are also expected to keep on
rising, with the average price going
as high as C$704,900 by the end of
2023, the CMHC report said.
 TRAIL
BLAZERS
Two Indian women have literally
gone where their peers have never
DGGPD[DGEQOKPIVJGƂTUVYQOGP
mine managers in the country,
writes Umasankar G.

Sandhya Rasakatla and Yogeswari

Rane have made history, assuming
roles in the mining industry that has
so far been the exclusive preserve of
men.
->˜`…Þ> ,>Ã>Ž>̏> ˆÃ ̅i wÀÃ̇iÛiÀ
woman to be appointed as an under‡
ground Mine Manager. An employee
of the Hindustan Zinc Limited, she
took over as the Mine Manager in the
company’s Zawarmala Mine in Rajas‡
than in April. A Vedanta Group com‡
pany, HZL is one of the largest pro‡
`ÕViÀà œv <ˆ˜V‡i>` >˜` -ˆÛiÀ ˆ˜ ̅i
country.
Close on her heels to the record
books was Yogeswari Rane who has
been appointed Head (Planning and
Development) at HZL’s Kayad Mine in
Rajasthan, making it a double honour
for women in unconventional and hith‡
iÀ̜“>i‡`œ“ˆ˜>Ìi`Àœið
Women in mining something of a
rarity. Sandhya and Yogeshwari could

46 | April 2021 | Construction Philosophy


make it to where no woman before them had
reached thanks to the landmark amendments
to the Mines Act 1952, made in 2019, making
women eligible to work both above and below
the ground in any mine if they have required cer‡
̈wV>̈œ˜Ã°
->˜`…Þ> …>à > ˆ˜ià >˜>}iÀ ViÀ̈wV>Ìi ˆ˜
the Second Class and Yogeswari a First Class
ˆ˜ià >˜>}iÀ ViÀ̈wV>Ìi° /Üi˜ÌÞ /…Àii‡Þi>À
old Sandhya has the pedigree as her father was
a mining engineer at the Singareni Coal Mines in
/i>˜}>˜>° 9œ}iÅÜ>Àˆ ,>˜ˆ] LœÀ˜ >˜` LÀœÕ}…Ì
up in Goa, too grew up around mines, but with
no direct link.
She enrolled as a student at the Kothagudem
…ˆiv
ÝiVṎÛi"vwViÀƂÀ՘ˆÃÀ>
School of Mines after her 12th grade, one of a
few girls to join the second mining engineering
batch at the school. While others chose to move
on, she literally dug her heels in. Hindustan Zinc
Limited picked her through campus placement
in 2018.
9œ}iÅÜ>Àˆ,>˜ˆÜ>ÏÕVŽÞˆ˜>Ãi˜Ãi°/…iÞi>À
MILESTONES
in which she passed her 12th grade, the Goa Engi‡
neering College started a degree course in mining
engineering, association with Vedanta. She was one
of the three girls to be picked by Vedanta on com‡
pletion of her course.
Yogeshwari joined Vedanta as a graduate engi‡
neer trainee and for three years worked in the open
cast mines in Goa in different departments – plan‡
˜ˆ˜}]œ«iÀ>̈œ˜Ã]Vœ˜ÌÀœÀœœ“ˆ˜‡V…>À}i]iÌV°
When mining was banned in Goa, she was trans‡
viÀÀi` ̜ ˆ˜`ÕÃÌ>˜ <ˆ˜V ˆ“ˆÌi` >˜`] vœÀ ̅i wÀÃÌ
time, left Goa to work in an underground mine. She
moved to the Rampur Agucha Mines in Rajasthan
and currently works at the Kayad Mines in the State.
ˆ˜`ÕÃÌ>˜<ˆ˜V
has been quoted as saying, “It has been a revolu‡
̈œ˜>ÀÞ`iVˆÃˆœ˜̜>œÜܜ“i˜ˆ˜“ˆ˜ˆ˜}°/…ˆÃˆÃ
an opportunity for us and the women mining engi‡
neers out there to bring about a societal change. At
Hindustan Zinc, we have embraced this and have
given an equal platform for our women engineers in
our mining operations”.
Construction Philosophy | April 2021 | 47
 Ar. Aashima Gupta

GREEN
BUILDING
CONSTRUCTION
The way should it should be done

Construction blog Bimhow tells us that the con- Ո`ˆ˜}

iÀ̈wi` *ÀœiVÌ ̅>Ì >ˆ“à ̜ Vœ˜ÃiÀÛi
struction sector accounts for 23% of air pollution, resources, conserve vegetation, reduce pollution,
50% of climate change, 40% of drinking water i˜ÃÕÀiivwVˆi˜ÌÜ>ÃÌi“>˜>}i“i˜Ì>˜`Ì>ŽiV>Ài
«œṎœ˜>˜`>««ÀœÝˆ“>ÌiÞx䯜v>˜`wÃÕȘ} of construction workers’ welfare.
Ü>ÃÌi°7…>Ì̅iÃiw}ÕÀiÃ>ÌÌiÃÌvœÀˆÃ̅iÜ>Þ̅i
construction sector is proving to be detrimental Air and water pollution control
to the environment. And, the answer is certainly The intent here is simple: to minimize air and
more ‘green’ building practices. water pollution during construction.
ÕV……>ÃLii˜ÜÀˆÌÌi˜>LœÕÌLi˜iwÌÃœvÀii˜ U /…i «ÀœiVÌ ÈÌi ŜՏ` Li ÃÕÀÀœÕ˜`i` LÞ >Ì
Buildings, about the way it helps in water and en- least 3m high barricading.
ergy conservation, improved indoor air quality,
and conservation scarce raw materials. But, rarely
do we hear about how in practice the process of
‘green’ building process happens and how they
address these issues, thereby contributing to re-
duction of carbon footprint and environmental
degradation.
Let us look at some of the practices that are gen-
iÀ>ÞvœœÜi`>ÌVœ˜ÃÌÀÕV̈œ˜ÈÌiÃœv>˜ÞÀii˜

48 | May 2021 | Construction Philosophy


• Wheel washing facility should be provided at
̅i i˜ÌÀ>˜Vi >˜` i݈Ì œv ̅i «ÀœiVÌ° 7…ii
washing facility generally aims to wash off the
tyres of vehicles as they enter and exit the
«ÀœiVÌ ÈÌi° >ÃÌ “œÛˆ˜} Ûi…ˆVià ܈̅ `ÀÞ
tyres result in air pollution. Vehicles that have
to move at high speeds should not allowed
ˆ˜Ìœ̅i«ÀœiVÌÈÌi°/À>vwVŜՏ`Li>œÜi`
to move only at a controlled speed to keep
the surroundings dust-free and also to reduce
risk of casualties.
• Loose construction materials like sand, coarse
sand should be covered with plastic sheets.
Water should be sprinkled regularly on such
loose materials so that they do not lift up in
heavy breeze and spread, causing air pollu-
tion.
• Diesel gensets should be provided with prop-
er chimneys and their outlet should be placed
above human height level.
• Spill prevention plan should be properly im-
plemented at the construction site to control
the effects of spill from hazardous materials
like bitumen, diesel, etc.
Preservation and protection of landscape
The intent here is to preserve existing trees and
the fertile top soil on site. This ensures minimized
Construction Philosophy | May 2021 | 49

impact on existing landscape from the construc-
tion activities.
• Existing trees should be barricaded till con-
clusion of the construction activities to avoid
any possibility of damage to trees.
• If it becomes necessary to cut down existing
trees at a construction site, it is advisable to
replant the trees (preferably with native spe-
cies) at least in the ratio of 1:3.
• Also, before pursuing construction at the
«ÀœiVÌÈÌi]̜«܈ŜՏ`LiÃÌÀˆ««i`̜>
depth of 20 cm from the entire site and stock-
piled to a height of 40cm. This fertile top soil
can be re-used later for landscaping.
50 | May 2021 | Construction Philosophy
Construction management practices
The intent here is to adopt construction tech-
niques which helps conserve water and prevent
soil erosion.
• In order to prevent soil erosion, various strat-
egies can be commonly taken. Key among
these is provision of sedimentation tank with
temporary water drains.
• Construction activities should be carried out
in stages to avoid haphazard and wasteful
use of construction material.
• Water use during construction is a very im-
portant factor that needs to be managed.
Hence, to conserve water, gunny bags should
be used for curing.
• Leakages should be monitored. Sometimes,
there are leakages in pipes, tanks, etc. This
can lead to loss of huge amounts of water on
site.
• Keeping in mind the huge water scarcity in
most places, we should devise ways to use
treated waste water.
U Ƃ``ˆÌˆÛië>Þ>“>œÀÀœiˆ˜Ài`ÕVˆ˜}Ü>ÌiÀ
consumption during curing period and hence
>Ài«ÀiviÀÀi`“>œÀÞ°
 • Construction waste should be segregated
properly at a designated space category wise.
Efforts must be made re-use them at the same
ÈÌi°œÀiÝ>“«i]LÀœŽi˜LÀˆVŽÃV>˜LiÕÃi`
vœÀwˆ˜}«ÕÀ«œÃið
“«ÌÞ
i“i˜ÌL>}ÃV>˜
be used for barricading the trees. Construc-
tion waste can be recycled. So they can be giv-
en to recyclers nearby. Broken glasses, metal
waste, cardboards, plastic waste, etc. come
under this category. Construction waste which
cannot be reused at the same site or cannot
be given to other construction sites or recy-
ViÀÃ]ŜՏ`LiÃi˜Ì̜>˜`wÃ°/…ÕÃ]>…Õ}i • Open balconies, lift pits, staircases should be
load of waste can be saved. barricaded to avoid accidents.
• Multi-coloured bins should be provided at • Proper signages should be provided at site to
construction site in order to segregate the educate the workers. These signages should
waste at source itself. include warnings about safety precautions,
}Àii˜vi>ÌÕÀiÃœv̅i«ÀœiVÌ]iÌV°
Provisions for workers’ safety and welfare
The intent here is to ensure safety and provision Implementation as per Site Logistics Plan
of hygienic conditions to the workers at the con- The intent here is to ensure proper coordination
struction site œv Vœ˜ÃÌÀÕV̈œ˜ >V̈ۈ̈ià >à w˜>ˆâi` `ÕÀˆ˜} ̅i
U ˆÀÃÌœv>]ܜÀŽiÀÃŜՏ`Üi>À«Àœ«iÀ**
à construction process.
to ensure safety. All activities should be demarcated on this plan
• Hygienic accommodation with proper sanita- with their proper allocated space. Thus, location
tion and bathing facilities should be provided of material stacking, labor huts, top soil preserva-
to them. tion, vehicular and pedestrian movements, sed-
U Àˆ˜Žˆ˜}Ü>ÌiÀ>˜`ˆÀÃÌƂˆ`ŜՏ`Li>Û>ˆ- ˆ“i˜Ì>̈œ˜ Ì>˜Ž >˜` > œv ̅i “>œÀ >˜` “ˆ˜œÀ
able on site. >V̈ۈ̈iÃŜՏ`Li“>ÀŽi`°*ÀœiVÌ>˜>}iÀ>˜`
• There must be creche facility for workers’ chil- Contractor are responsible for this coordination.
dren. /…ˆÃ…i«Ãˆ˜Ài`ÕVˆ˜}…>â>À`Ã>Ì̅i«ÀœiVÌÈÌi°

ƂÀ°Ƃ>ň“>Õ«Ì>ˆÃÀii˜ Ո`ˆ˜}
œ˜ÃՏÌ>˜Ì>˜`œÕ˜`iÀ] ˜ÛˆÀœiÈ}˜
œ˜Vi«ÌÃ]ÕÀÕ}À>“° ‡>ˆ\}}˜°i`Vˆ˜`ˆ>J}“>ˆ°Vœ“

Construction Philosophy | May 2021 | 51

 EVENTS

ICI CHENNAI CENTRE PLANS

WEBINAR ON ‘CORROSION
PREVENTION IN RC STRUCTURES:

AN OVERVIEW’
ON JUNE 26
CHENNAI: Indian Concrete Institute (ICI), Chen-
nai Centre, is planning a webinar on June 26 on the
theme "Corrosion Prevention in RC Structures: An
Overview".
The webinar will take place from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
and will be followed by the Annual General Body
Meeting (AGM) of the ICI Chennai Centre.
The AGM will discuss the ICI (CC) activities during
ÓäÓä‡Ó£ wÃV> Þi>À >˜` ̅i >V̈ۈ̈ià «>˜˜i` vœÀ
2021-22. The meeting link and ID is being sent to all
members and special guests.
Queries may be directed to: Ms. Ramya Laksh-
manan, Manager (ICI-CC), BSB 205, Department
of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology
Madras (IITM), Chennai, TN 600 036, India; Phone:
+91 44 2257 5255. E-Mail ID: icichennaicentre@
gmail.com

52 | May 2021 | Construction Philosophy

TECH WORLD

Construction Philosophy | May 2021 | 53

 SANY launches 4 new truck
cranes embracing new
emission norms

54 | May 2021 | Construction Philosophy

 PRODUCT WORLD

Sany India, a global leader in the CE Industry scenario would take a quantum leap into a
has successfully embraced the Bharat CEV new dimension of utility application and
Stage IV norms and upgraded and launched herald a new era in the industry. To provide
four new truck cranes: STC250C, STC450C, round the clock customer service, Sany India
STC600C, and STC800C. has also set up a toll-free number 1800209337
for all queries related to sales and services.
The new truck cranes have been manufactured
at Sany India’s state-of-the-art manufacturing
plant at Chakan in Pune to boost the
government's ‘Make In India’ programme.
Equipped with the multimode power output
function, Sany’s STC 250C consumes less
power and the use of tipping over early-
warning technology provides stability and
safety during operation. Its maximum load-
lifting capacity is 25 ton at working radius of
3mts and the model has a maximum boom
length of 33.5mts.
Sanjay Saxena, Senior Vice President & Head,
Heavy Equipment Business Unit, Sany Heavy
Industry, India Pvt. Ltd, said, “We are very
proud that, we have successfully launched
4 models of truck cranes in the market
complying with the new emission standards.
Being a market leader, the unveiling of our
new CEV Stage IV truck cranes will boost our
sales and help us sustain our leadership in
the segment.”
Sany STC450C is laced with an adjustable
hydraulic system and intelligent electric
Vœ˜ÌÀœ ÃÞÃÌi“] ܅ˆV… LœœÃÌà ˆÌà ivwVˆi˜VÞ
with low fuel consumption. Its maximum
loading capacity is 45 tons at a working
radius of 3 metres. The model comes with a
maximum boom length of 43.5 metres.
Latest to join the league, STC600C has
a powerful lifting capacity of 60 ton at a
working radius of 3 metres. This model has
a boom length of 45.5 metres, the longest in
its class. Adding additional value, Sany India
has introduced new STC800C with superior
lifting capacity of 80 tons at a working radius
of 3 metres and maximum boom length of
47.5 metres.
Sany India, the leading global manufacturer
of construction equipment in the country, has
carved a niche in the manufacturing space
with its advanced robust products and ease of
serviceability. With these new additions, Sany
India is optimistic that the Indian construction

Construction Philosophy | May 2021 | 55

DYNAPACC INDIA
UNVEILS NEW
GENERATION
TION
PAVERS
Dynapac, leading
g
manufacturers of
road construction
equipment, has
launched a new
SD range of pavers
with new features
and packages that
ÃÕ««œÀÌ ivwVˆi˜Ì
operation, enhanced
anced
operator comfort and safe Dynapac with this complete portfolio of pavers as
working environment for the operator. well as complementary models for asphalt rollers
The new Dynapac paver models are SD2500C, is thus the perfect partner for building high quality
SD2530CS and SD2550CS. highways and airports.
SD2500C with V6000TVE screed is recommended Dynapac Screeds are the best in their class and
for 9m paving works in highway construction for the most reliable due to their 4-tube principle of
both WMM as well as DBM/BC paving. While the design. The screeds are easy to assemble and they
SD2530CS is a high-capacity paving solution that do not require any supporting rods, even at large
can help pave up to 9.7m. This unit features a bigger working widths. The paver is controlled by Dynapac’s
material hopper as well as conveyor capacity with intelligent control system Pave Manager 2.0 which
longer tracks for wide paving widths. features integrated Canbus control for the tractor as
well as the screed. This offers the operator with all the
When it comes to paving 6 lane roads with working
ˆ˜vœÀ“>̈œ˜>Ì…ˆÃw˜}iÀ̈«ÃvœÀ>}Ài>Ì«>ۈ˜}ÀiÃՏ̰
widths up to 13.25m, Dynapac SD2550CS is a
well-known work horse with R300TVE rigid screed. All SD range of pavers are equipped with Dyn@link
advance (telematic system) for optimization of paving
parameters as well as timely maintenance. Dyn@link
also enables fuel consumption track record, service
alerts, geofencing, engine parameters, etc., that will
save money as well as offer high machine uptime.
The Dynapac pavers can be offered with a variety
of levelling systems that include stringline as well
as ultrasonic sensors. Dynapac also offers the BIG
SONIC SKI levelling system for excellent results with
3 sonic sensors on either side which can be offered as
per project requirement.

56 | May 2021 | Construction Philosophy

Construction Philosophy(CP) Licence No. KERENG/2019/78477 ൟ.200/
Vol.No.2 Issue No. 5. Licenced to Post Without Prepayment. May 2021