Katerra, the Silicon Valley-headquartered design and technology-driven construction firm is setting up a manufacturing plant for building components in Hyderabad with an investment of $100 million.
The nearly 1.3 million sq. ft. facility, to come up on 50 acres on the city outskirts near the airport, would create over 1,000 jobs and is expected to be ready by March 2020. It would deliver eight million sq. ft. of building components through robotic assembly line production, some of which the company plans to export too.
The product lines include completed 3D rooms, wall, beams, columns, hollow core slabs, double walls and modular MEP (mechanical, electrical and plumbing) and plug-and-play bathroom pods.
Announcing that the ground-breaking ceremony for the plant was held on Wednesday, president (Asia and Middle East) Ash Bhardwaj and head design and business strategy in India Nejeeb Khan said this would be the second off-site manufacturing plant of the company in India. The first facility, a one million sq. ft. plant, is in Krishnagiri in Tamil Nadu.
Growth potential in and around Hyderabad was the reason behind setting up a plant here, Mr. Khan said. Katerra has already signed a contract with a company for constructing the latter’s 1.6 million sq. ft. campus expansion project in Hyderabad. Also, it is in discussion with other prospective customers for developing an additional six million sq. ft.
Mr. Bhardwaj said technology-driven off-site manufacturing helped in producing almost 80% of the components used in the construction of a building. For now, Katerra would be focusing on construction of commercial office buildings as well as those to house hotels, malls, hospitals, educational institutions and industrial parks. It is likely to get into construction of affordable housing projects later.
Mr. Bhardwaj also added that there are plans to invest in setting up factories in Mumbai-Pune region in the later part of the year, followed by a plant in NCR to cover the north market. South India would be catered to by the plants in Hyderabad and Krishnagiri. To queries on cost, the senior executives said the benefits include overall cost savings, less time taken to design and construct, adherence to sustainable practices, minimal dust pollution and waste on-site.
Source: The Hindu
