the housing and real estate arm of the $ 7.5 billion (Rs 30,566 crore) Mahindra Group, is planning to enter the business of building low-cost houses for the middle-income group.
Low-cost houses have become a fad among young people, as they are available at an affordable cost of Rs 25-30 lakh. The company has tied up with BE Billimoria and Co (BEBL), which specializes in construction technology, to bring down construction costs in the long run.
This means, in a horizon of five years, MLDL might be building flats or apartments targeted at the middle-income group. Though the group’s current focus is firmly on luxury and premium properties, the company is keenly watching these lower segments.
The tie-up with BEBL would be expanded to future projects and at the same time, MLDL would be open to other similar tie-ups in construction technology that would enable them to bring their costs down.
“While most sectors in India have constantly upgraded their technological capabilities, real estate firms have lagged behind. We feel that is where the costs can be brought down by at least three to seven per cent,” Malhotra added.
The present plan though, would be to focus on premium housing for the company, which not long ago, was a focused construction company – GESCO.
The company, where Mahindras’ involvement began with a stake to stave off a hostile takeover bid by the AH Dalmia Group in 2001, was later bought over by the Mahindras. It later merged with Mahindra Realty, and was renamed MLDL in October 2007.
Since then, the group’s principal activity has shifted its focus to developing residential and commercial real estate, with a special focus on housing.
The company has announced on Monday that it is going to develop 25 acres of land at the Multimodal Internal Hub Airport of Nagpur (MIHAN), at a total investment of close to Rs 500 crore.
The company’s two Special Economic Zones (SEZ) in Chennai and Jaipur are well on its way, said Malhotra. 400 acres out of the 2500 acres in the Jaipur SEZ has already been contracted out, while the 1400-acre Chennai SEZ has already commenced operations, he added.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
The Problem
Housing stress and inadequacy is mainly felt by the weaker and low-income sections of the society, particularly with the continuous rise in construction costs.
Basic housing is now beyond the reach of the people as the cost of construction is increasing by 50 percent over the normal inflation due to hike in the cost of construction materials and labour. The existing construction practices using conventional options have lead to misuse of scarce materials, besides causing environmental degradation.
Although there have been attempts at evolving appropriate and cost-effective technologies, but these have remained at the laboratory level. Furthermore, the “awareness” level of these alternative and sustainable options has been minimal among users as well as professionals (architects and engineers).
There is a distinct lack of training and skill upgradation not only for use of conventional but also for cost-effective technologies. Additionally there exists no appropriate delivery mechanism for housing at the field level.
There is an imperative need to utilize technology options leading to cost-effective solutions affordable by people especially the lower income groups. What is needed is to give a decisive shift in the selection and application of building materials and technologies leading to cost effectiveness and yet providing durable, functional and aesthetic options as against conventional options.
Its relevance to housing as an alternative option rather than an inferior option has to be clearly established and its application for categories of housing and building construction needs to be reinforced.
There is a challenge to sell these new options to the beneficiaries and to evolve suitable strategies using local initiatives to involve the beneficiaries, so as to minimize resistance to this "new" technology.
Basic housing is now beyond the reach of the people as the cost of construction is increasing by 50 percent over the normal inflation due to hike in the cost of construction materials and labour. The existing construction practices using conventional options have lead to misuse of scarce materials, besides causing environmental degradation.
Although there have been attempts at evolving appropriate and cost-effective technologies, but these have remained at the laboratory level. Furthermore, the “awareness” level of these alternative and sustainable options has been minimal among users as well as professionals (architects and engineers).
There is a distinct lack of training and skill upgradation not only for use of conventional but also for cost-effective technologies. Additionally there exists no appropriate delivery mechanism for housing at the field level.
There is an imperative need to utilize technology options leading to cost-effective solutions affordable by people especially the lower income groups. What is needed is to give a decisive shift in the selection and application of building materials and technologies leading to cost effectiveness and yet providing durable, functional and aesthetic options as against conventional options.
Its relevance to housing as an alternative option rather than an inferior option has to be clearly established and its application for categories of housing and building construction needs to be reinforced.
There is a challenge to sell these new options to the beneficiaries and to evolve suitable strategies using local initiatives to involve the beneficiaries, so as to minimize resistance to this "new" technology.
Village houses may be artists' delight
Village houses may be artists' delight, and cement structures in villages may look like incongruous ugly dots in a picturesque landscape.
But while urbanites may feel that village houses should retain their traditional appearance - and therefore be made of wood, stone, mud etc. - villagers themselves are quick to point to the irony in this: the well-meaning urbanites themselves have long ago abandoned traditional housing!
Low cost, aesthetics, preserving traditions, and living in climatically suitable houses are all fine notions, but the durability of homes is also an important consideration.
A mud house with a thatched roof needs continuous maintenance, whereas a brick and cement house is far sturdier, and has a longer life span. And villagers are as interested in the longevity of their homes as their urban counterparts.
But while urbanites may feel that village houses should retain their traditional appearance - and therefore be made of wood, stone, mud etc. - villagers themselves are quick to point to the irony in this: the well-meaning urbanites themselves have long ago abandoned traditional housing!
Low cost, aesthetics, preserving traditions, and living in climatically suitable houses are all fine notions, but the durability of homes is also an important consideration.
A mud house with a thatched roof needs continuous maintenance, whereas a brick and cement house is far sturdier, and has a longer life span. And villagers are as interested in the longevity of their homes as their urban counterparts.
But a traditional rural residence has important advantages - it is almost always based on adaptations to the local environment, and is often built with the labour of the villagers themselves without the need for external mechanised inputs.
The simplest way to build a house, in the past, was to look around for the materials needed for the structure, and begin building the structure yourself. For the construction of village homes, therefore, the challenge today is to acknowledge people's desire for long-lasting structures, and thereafter ask what elements of functionality, value and aesthetics can be infused into the buildings. One person who took up this challenge vigorously was M N Joglekar, a former Executive Director of the Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO).
A professional architect, Joglekar went beyond the standard knowledge of construction to study not just how these houses are constructed but how they are lived in. He set out to use rationalized traditional technologies, which are amply displayed at the Rural Building Centre of National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD) in Hyderabad.
Fourteen typologies of rural buildings - from those in the Himalayan region to the hilly North-East to the rain-battered coasts to arid Kutch and the Deccan Plateau - stand in a circle, exuding aesthetics enhanced by the pictorial natural setting of the Rural Technology Park of NIRD campus. Recognising the great potential in promoting local-material-based traditional technologies, HUDCO had initiated the Rural Building Centre concept where building components can be manufactured by the rural people using local available material and through skill upgradation.
Through this centre, precast components could be given to the rural people instead of cash, which is the typical form of assistance for home construction.
Low cost housing (LCH) TECHNOLOGY
This technology will indeed be provided low priced and affordable housing, the Cebu project used CEBs/SEBs and micro-concrete roof-tiles. Although these materials are genuinely low-cost; the houses do not look “low-cost” at all - as can be seen from the range of images and pictures shown below.
CEB’s are walling elements that are produced from a mixture of soil, a high % of cement and water, and compressed by a manual or hydraulic press with a maximum nominal compaction force of 8 tons. Special moulds are available for beams, columns and electric wires. Special bricks may be made for multi-storey buildings.
SEB’s on the other hand use a relatively low amount of cement and other energy intensive products and a small amount of RoadPacker Clay Brick Stabiliser which greatly increases the strength of the Stabilised Bricks and renders them completely impervious to water.
The bricks are made of ordinary insitu clayey soil rather than sand and gravel which goes to show that the use of the appropriate LCH technology is commercially viable.
Several Reasons Why This Technology Should Be Used
LCH Compacted Earth Bricks allow you to use the most abundant raw material on earth, soil.
LCH Compacted Earth Bricks use only 0 .2 litres of RoadPacker Clay Brick Stabiliser per m3 to be mixed with the soil to stabilise it.
LCH Compacted Earth Bricks being strong and highly compacted, are of the highest resistance (>8mpa) and do not require the use of any reinforcing bars to build a completely strong durable dwelling of up to 3 stories. (Except in Seismic Areas)
LCH Compacted Earth Bricks can be produced on the construction site, which negates the need for transporting the bricks and thereby, reduces the risk of damaging the already "paid for" bricks.
LCH Compacted Earth Bricks utilise unskilled labour to manufacture the bricks, therefore, employment is provided for local indigenous population and costs are kept at the lowest level.
LCH Compacted Earth Brick houses require a minimum of skilled labour to build. A professional bricklayer supervising the job will be sufficient, all other workers can be unskilled from the local surrounding area.
The LCH Compacted Earth Bricks are of a quality so high and a finish so good that most of the builders do not plaster or paint the external walls.
Furthermore, the majority of the low cost housing, because of the high standard and finish, can be left with the internal walls not painted.
A LCH Compacted Earth Brick house is totally isothermic to the extent that neither the heat nor the cold will affect the comfort of the occupants. Should the occupant decide that they wish to install air conditioning or central heating, then their electricity bill will be minimal.
CEB’s are walling elements that are produced from a mixture of soil, a high % of cement and water, and compressed by a manual or hydraulic press with a maximum nominal compaction force of 8 tons. Special moulds are available for beams, columns and electric wires. Special bricks may be made for multi-storey buildings.
SEB’s on the other hand use a relatively low amount of cement and other energy intensive products and a small amount of RoadPacker Clay Brick Stabiliser which greatly increases the strength of the Stabilised Bricks and renders them completely impervious to water.
The bricks are made of ordinary insitu clayey soil rather than sand and gravel which goes to show that the use of the appropriate LCH technology is commercially viable.
Several Reasons Why This Technology Should Be Used
LCH Compacted Earth Bricks allow you to use the most abundant raw material on earth, soil.
LCH Compacted Earth Bricks use only 0 .2 litres of RoadPacker Clay Brick Stabiliser per m3 to be mixed with the soil to stabilise it.
LCH Compacted Earth Bricks being strong and highly compacted, are of the highest resistance (>8mpa) and do not require the use of any reinforcing bars to build a completely strong durable dwelling of up to 3 stories. (Except in Seismic Areas)
LCH Compacted Earth Bricks can be produced on the construction site, which negates the need for transporting the bricks and thereby, reduces the risk of damaging the already "paid for" bricks.
LCH Compacted Earth Bricks utilise unskilled labour to manufacture the bricks, therefore, employment is provided for local indigenous population and costs are kept at the lowest level.
LCH Compacted Earth Brick houses require a minimum of skilled labour to build. A professional bricklayer supervising the job will be sufficient, all other workers can be unskilled from the local surrounding area.
The LCH Compacted Earth Bricks are of a quality so high and a finish so good that most of the builders do not plaster or paint the external walls.
Furthermore, the majority of the low cost housing, because of the high standard and finish, can be left with the internal walls not painted.
A LCH Compacted Earth Brick house is totally isothermic to the extent that neither the heat nor the cold will affect the comfort of the occupants. Should the occupant decide that they wish to install air conditioning or central heating, then their electricity bill will be minimal.
