India's construction future may lie outside construction sites
Bengaluru, Nov 3 (UNI) With pollution restrictions increasingly disrupting conventional construction activities in major cities and infrastructure projects facing pressure to meet tighter deadlines, India could be approaching a major shift towards factory-built construction, where building components are manufactured off-site and assembled at project locations.
The transition to industrialised construction could reduce overall project completion time by 20 to 50 per cent and cut onsite workforce requirements by up to 50-60 per cent in selected structural and assembly activities, according to Teppo Voutilainen, CEO of Finland-based construction technology major Elematic Oyj.
Voutilainen said the changing regulatory environment, particularly restrictions on outdoor construction activities in Delhi and Maharashtra's proposed incentives for off-site manufacturing to tackle Mumbai's air pollution, could provide fresh momentum to precast construction in India.
"These policies offer strong incentives to move to industrialised construction, and we want to share our knowledge and capabilities to help make it happen," he said in response to questions from UNI.
The potential transformation comes against the backdrop of India's construction market, estimated at USD 685-790 billion, where precast construction accounts for only around one per cent of the total value, indicating considerable scope for expansion.
Voutilainen said the biggest challenge was not the availability of technology but the traditional way in which India's construction industry operated.
Buildings were generally designed using conventional construction methods, with precast technology considered only at a later stage. This fragmented approach prevented manufacturers, architects, contractors and site teams from working as an integrated unit.
Industrialised construction required buildings to be designed for manufacturing and systematic assembly from the beginning, with greater standardisation, early decision-making and predictable project pipelines.
He said the benefits extended beyond reducing the number of workers at construction sites. Moving activities into factory environments could improve workplace safety, quality control, material efficiency and project predictability.
However, he cautioned that labour reduction would depend on the type of building, the degree of prefabrication and project design, and should not be interpreted as an equivalent reduction in overall employment.
Infrastructure is expected to provide the biggest immediate opportunity, accounting for an estimated 43 per cent of India's precast end-use market, followed by residential construction at 24 per cent and industrial applications at 18 per cent.
Railways, metros, roads, airports, large housing projects, logistics facilities and data centres are among the segments expected to drive adoption.
"If one area must be prioritised today, it is infrastructure, because it combines scale, repetition and a visible investment pipeline," Voutilainen said.
He also identified data centres and advanced industrial buildings as emerging opportunities, while largescale housing represented the biggest long-term transformation opportunity.
Elematic, which has operated in India since 2008, has manufacturing facilities in Alwar, Rajasthan, and Sikandrabad, Uttar Pradesh. The company has helped establish 70 factories in collaboration with Indian customers and plans to strengthen its local engineering, manufacturing, commissioning and customer-support capabilities over the next five years.
It is also partnering with Vakio Jindal Build to promote integrated precast and prefabricated construction solutions, including factory-finished bathroom pods and other building components.
Voutilainen said the industry needed to move beyond evaluating precast technology merely on equipment and component costs and assess its overall economic benefits, including faster project completion, reduced rework, predictable quality and earlier revenue generation.
"Buying equipment does not create industrialised construction on its own. Buildings must be designed for precast from the beginning," he said.
UNI BDN
