Q: What is the role that technology has played in the growth of the affordable housing segment in Indian real estate?
A: Technology has been impacting the construction industry like never before, especially for affordable housing. New innovations in construction technologies, have enhanced the quality, pace and overall cost-efficiency of construction. Technologies like super material, wearable tech, pollution-eating buildings and artificial intelligence, are reshaping the construction industry at large.
Q: What are the latest technologies that are being used by developers like yourself, who are into affordable housing?
A: With an ever-growing demand for affordable homes and rapid urbanisation, developers need to speed-up construction, to meet the demands. Developers are increasingly turning to new technologies, to reduce the time to develop a floor or unit. One such technology is shuttering with aluminium formwork, which is not only cost efficient and accelerates the speed of construction but also gives superior quality and structural strength to buildings.
See also: Drywall technology: Can it reduce construction timelines in Indian realty?
Q: Poddar Housing recently won the award for Best Affordable Project of the Year 2019 for Poddar Samruddhi Evergreens, along with Integrated Township of The Year for Poddar WonderCity. How much would you credit the construction technology used for these projects, for the success of these projects?
A: I would say 70% of the credit should go to the construction technologies that we use on our construction sites. Technologies expedite the construction work and bring down the times it takes to construct a floor and help us in delivering the units on time.
Q: Please share any new technologies or technological trends that will play a big role in the affordable housing space, in 2020.
A: Considering the need for speed in the construction industry, automation, as much as possible, is the way to go. Use of robotics, along with artificial intelligence, is gradually becoming a common practice at construction sites in the country. Autonomous rovers that help in efficient inspection of the details and mechanical arms that automate repetitive tasks like brick-laying and tying rebar, are a few of the biggest transformations that will be more common in 2020. Apart from these technologies, use of exoskeletons, connected job sites for better coordination and better communication and use of advanced materials to reduce the overall carbon footprint, will be more common in construction spaces.