Larsen & Toubro (L&T) is close to completing the construction of India's first 3D concrete- printed luxury villas in Bengaluru, M V Satish, Executive Committee Member, L&T, told Moneycontrol. The six villas sprawling over 4,000 sq ft each are located in one of the Prestige Group projects.
While L&T did not share the exact cost of the construction, industry sources estimated it to be more than Rs 10 crore for each villa.
Unlike traditional construction methods, 3D printing uses a robotic arm to create layers using a special concrete mixture, fed into the system to construct the building structure.
"We started the project in January and we will be close to completing the 3D printing by August. The rest of the project will be completed by October and is likely to be handed over by December-January," Satish added.
The project has obtained a regulatory certification from the Building Materials and Technology Promotion Council (BMTPC) and is also being monitored by experts at IIT Madras. The two robotic printers that L&T is using for the project are from Denmark and India.
Last year, L&T completed India's first 3D-printed post office in Bengaluru for Rs 23 lakh. The project, sprawling over 1,100 sq ft, was completely 3D concrete-printed in 45 days.
What is 3D concrete printing?
In contrast to conventional building techniques, 3D printing employs a robotic arm to feed a specific concrete mixture into the device in order to form layers. The mixture has special adhesives for quick drying and other uses.
There are mainly two kinds of systems -- a gantry-based one, in which giant cranes allow movement of the printer horizontally, and robotic arms where the mixture is funneled out of the arm, in line with the design plans fed into the system.
Technology still at a nascent stage in India
According to Satish, luxury villas can be 3D concrete-printed in about one year while conventional construction methods will require 2-3 years.
However, for individual projects, the cost of printing a building will be the same as that incurred by traditional methods.
Manu Santhanam, professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at IIT-Madras, said: "For a single unit, 3D printing would be more expensive than conventional construction. But when multiple units are being constructed, 3D printing can be a viable option, and independent units can be designed with unique features, which is not possible in conventional construction."
The construction cost can be cut down significantly for larger projects — making 3D concrete- printing effective for building large-scale affordable housing projects, Satish added.
However, experts say that the technology is still at a nascent stage as 3D printing regulations are only applicable to G+2 buildings while the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana buildings are majorly mid-rises.
Scalability and high-rises remain a challenge because 3D printing technology is capital-intensive. Sources said most of these machines are leased from abroad and they entail an import duty of about 30-35 percent.
For now, L&T said it has received multiple queries for smaller luxury villa projects in Bengaluru and Pune, including from NRIs. Additionally, the company is working with the Union government to deliver multiple 3D concrete-printed projects in the future.
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