What is the current demand for PEB in India? In the next three years which are the sectors that are expected to contribute the maximum for PEB industry?
PEB industry in India has shown a remarkable recovery and growth in the last couple of years owing to surge in demand for high quality warehousing from E-commerce & logistics, post implementation of GST, coupled with emerging opportunities in metro rail stations, depots, air ports, ports and the new greenfield factories to produce steel, building materials, consumer durables, automobiles, auto, chemicals, pharma, textiles, and many others. The current demand for PEB can be gauged from the fact there has been significant rise in capacity utilisation of the major players in the industry and running to full capacity. So according to me, PEB demand is nearing annual demand of 0.8 to 1 million ton in the near term. The major sectors that would contribute maximum to PEB industry growth in the next three years are logistics & warehousing, manufacturing and infrastructure & housing.
Post implementation of GST has brought in new avenues of revenue from E-commerce, warehousing, metro depots – your comments
Post Implementation of GST there has been a surge in demand for warehouses across the country, there is enhancement in revenues arising out sales of PEB to developers and logistics companies providing warehousing solutions to E-commerce companies & other major clients in India .
Which are the marquee projects you have completed or are under construction after the implementation of GST which conforms to LEED standard / IGBC ratings?
We have undertaken major projects for railways at Daund near Pune on turnkey basis with civil that includes piling and PEB for rail engine maintenance facility that’s currently under execution besides a number of other PEB projects. Among the completed projects are KIA Motors Seat Shop Project at Penakonda in Andhra Pradesh. Our scope was supply & install approximately 1,000 tons of structural steel along with metal decking. The project was unique in the sense that the structural members were manufactured out of Hot Rolled Section & Built up section to form Trusses in lengths of 10 mtr, 15 mtr and 20 mtr long. Transporting such long members on time was made possible by installing GPRS tracking system in all the vehicles. Among the projects executed by us, Motorola Project in Chennai received the LEED certifications in Silver Category.
What are the technical specifications of the materials used in PEB structures?
Steel is used in the PEB structures. All the primary members are fabricated out of high strength steel plates with minimum yield strength of 345 mpa. While the secondary members such as purlins are manufactured out of galvanised steel with higher galvanised coating of 275 gsm and yield strength of 345 mpa. Roofing sheets are manufactured of Bare Alu Zinc with yield strength of 550 mpa, while the wall cladding sheets are colour coated Alu Zinc Sheets . The main advantages are that these materials are easily available in the India Market, provide strength and durability.
What are the technical specifications of the materials used in PEB structures?
Steel is used in the PEB structures. All the primary members are fabricated out of high strength steel plates with minimum yield strength of 345 mpa. While the secondary members such as purlins are manufactured out of galvanised steel with higher galvanised coating of 275 gsm and yield strength of 345 mpa. Roofing sheets are manufactured of Bare Alu Zinc with yield strength of 550 mpa, while the wall cladding sheets are colour coated Alu Zinc Sheets . The main advantages are that these materials are easily available in the India Market, provide strength and durability.
It has been over close to over 30 years PEB being introduced in India. How has the industry developed since then? How has the perception towards PEB changed over the years?
PEB is widely accepted medium of construction in most of the sectors due to its inherent advantages of being cost effective, fast track and easily re-locatable compared to conventional brick & mortar construction. When PEB were introduced in India in late 1990’s, one of the first applications was in construction of oil filling stations as Canopy. Over the last two decades PEB has been steadily making inroads into construction of warehouses, factories buildings, process buildings, aircraft hangars, stadium, exhibition centres, school buildings and more recently into low cost housing. Over time, many companies have entered the industry giving rise to talent pool in the areas of design, engineering, manufacturing, logistics, construction & erection management teams besides development service providers such as the design softwares, raw material supply chain, erection tools & tackles. PEB projects are now delivered to the remotest locations in Leh & Ladakh to Kanyakumari such is the capability the industry has reached in the last 30 years.
Today you have a widest choice of design softwares. How are these design softwares enabling you to create marvelous projects? Which design software you prefer?
Design Softwares popularly used in PEB are Staad, MBS, Master Series. PEB is about fast track construction, so the design softwares help in carrying out the voluminous design work and deliver accurate, optimised design solutions. Our company uses MBS (Metal building Software, Fargo, USA).
What are the challenges facing the industry?
Volatility in steel prices remains one of the big challenges in the PEB industry. Most of the PEB contracts are fixed price contracts, and any exposure to steel prices increases erodes the margins and profitability of the projects take a hit. This impacts the overall operations, recovering from these kind of impacts is a journey by itself.
Second challenge is to improve steel intensive construction in new applications through innovation and creating awareness on the benefits of using steel to drive the per capita consumption of steel. Thirdly price competition from small players may spoil the market in the short term, but in long run high design & quality reliability, technically superior products will be in greater demand which will keep the small players at bay .
Please take us through your manufacturing units?
We have two state-of-the-art PEB manufacturing facilities one in West India near Mumbai and other in North India at Haridwar. Both units are well equipped with CNC plate cutting, Automatic Beam Welding lines, Automatic Shot Blasting Lines, pre-punched Cold forming lines for Z & C purlins, Roofing Sheets, Metal Decking in 51 mm and 75 mm. The plant is designed for rapid production and delivery primary, secondary members along with accessories in a sequential manner to support the construction sequences. In addition we have Mobile Roll Forming units, that can be transported to the site and manufacture Standing Seam Double Lok Roof Sheets in single lengths as per the Roof slope geometry. These extraordinary solutions for PEB industry match International Standards.
What are the steps you have taken to overcome shortage of skilled manpower?
We have been operating in India for more than two decades, and developed in-house training programmes for induction of ITI trainees to impart skills to carryout work in our plants be it a machine operator, welder, fit up, painting specialists. In addition we have outside agency that supplies skilled manpower to manage peaks in the production operations from time to time.
How is the lack of uniformity in Standard Code affecting the PEB industry? Which Standard you prefer AISC / MBMA or IS standard? Why?
Design of PEB to a particular Design Codes is often specified by the project consultants, and all the bidders are required to abide by the Technical Conditions of the Contract. Our sense is that PEB industry is capable to design buildings to the AISC/MBMA as well as IS standards evidenced by projects executed in the past. We prefer AISC/MBMA standards as it provides comprehensive design guidelines specifically for low rise PEB design.
What are your growth plans for your organization for the next three years?
We have plans to enhance the PEB business volume both in domestic & international markets aggressively. We plan to add hot rolled fabrication, low cost housing and high rise steel buildings to our portfolio in the next three years.
@EPC World Media
