The pace of infrastructure development in the country is going to accelerate in years to come. Stemming from the Pre-engineered buildings industry, what is taking shape is the application of pre-engineered construction to new Heavy Engineering and larger Infrastructure projects which is the next in line for development in the country. Projects like 100 smart cities, new no frill airports at various cities, International terminals, Automotive and automotive ancillary, cement, manufacturing, power plants, ports etc. require steel structures and a different approach in comparison to Pre-engineered buildings. The opportunity in these sectors is huge and we are all geared up. Gautam Suri, Founder Director & CTO, Interach Building Products Pvt Ltd shares his views with Sandeep Sharma about his company, core competencies, USP of products/solutions offered, cost-effectiveness of PEB systems, verticals likely to use PEB and the support needed from the Government to boost growth of PEB sector in India. Edited Excerpts… Tell us in brief about your company and core competencies? Interarch is today one of India’s leading turnkey pre-engineered metal building & steel construction companys and has been in the business of metal building products since last 30 years. Interarch expertise in integrated design, manufacturing & supply, and turnkey execution of pre-engineered metal buildings and steel construction solutions. Interarch’s capabilities extend all over India with our nation wide sales and project support offices spread over 20 locations and serviced by three manufacturing units in India at Pantnagar & Kichha (Uttarakhand) and Sriperumbudur, Chennai with a combined capacity of over 1,20,000 MT per annum of steel buildings and over 40,000 MT per annum for its Tracdek Roof & Wall systems We at Interach follow a very transparent system; we always work towards customer satisfaction and on-time projects delivery. We are the only company which invites customers to plants for inspection of raw material as well as finished goods and has unmatched quality control setup in manufacturing facilities. Interarch is the only company in India to provide turnkey solutions with a certified builder’s network of more than 60 certified builders across India. We ensure quality and timely delivery at site through: •Quarterly training secession to site engineers and certified builders •Technological up gradation know how and half-yearly rating system •We practice stringent safety rules and international standard and propagate Zero accident at our sites Interarch has one of the largest design & engineering team of 150 professional in 2 design centers in Noida and Chennai and have expertise of over 6000 Completed projects for various construction sectors like industrial, Automotive, Agro, Textile, Pharma, Warehouding, Infrastructure, Retail and Airport Terminal spaces in India. This can provide a good engineering support for all customers requiremnts Could you provide us insight about the USP of your products/solutions offered? Pre–Engineered steel building have unmatched advantages over a concrete building in this case some of the factor which may influence are: •Construction time is reduced by almost 30-40 % which gives early occupancy and early ROI •Large clear span structures up to 100 m & Clear height of up to 30 m are possible and mezzanine floors can be constructed which help in maximum usage of space and hence provide better utilization of money spent on every square feet. •Less energy consumption due to natural lighting •Easy to construct and easy to expand in future when required without disturbing existing operations •Fire and earth quake resistant –Very low or negligible maintenance cost which again saves in overall cost of the building •Cheaper below ground, due to lighter foundations If a complete life cycle is seen of a pre-engineered building and RCC, then it is observed that a pre-engineered building is much more economical to a RCC building How far going in for Pre-Engineered buildings is cost effective rather than undertaking traditional construction activities? The higher cost barriers is just a perception of people who have never used pre-Engineered buildings, We feel the market for pre-engineered steel construction is growing exponentially in India with consumers opting for new-age technologies as well as the need for fast construction. All sectors in India are expanding in terms of business and more & more companies are coming to India which gives pre-engineered steel sector huge potential to grow. Which are the verticals where Pre-Engineered buildings and systems are highly recommended? The pace of infrastructure development in the country is going to accelerate in years to come. Stemming from the Pre-engineered buildings industry, what is taking shape is the application of pre-engineered construction to new Heavy Engineering and larger Infrastructure projects which is the next in line for development in the country. Projects like 100 smart cities, new no frill airports at various cities, International terminals, Automotive and automotive ancillary, cement, manufacturing, power plants, ports etc. require steel structures and a different approach in comparison to Pre-engineered buildings. The opportunity in these sectors is huge and we are all geared up. What kind of support the PEB industry needs from the Government? We are happy with government current initiative like ‘Make in India’ campaign, allocation of funds for new infra projects like metro, 100 cities, hospitals etc. though much has not yet happened at ground level. The GST regime will make the use more cost effective as the customer will be able to utilize the input credit from a manufactured building.