Speed Post News Network
New Delhi : Minister f State ( MoS) for Housing and Urban Affairs (HUA) Hardeep Singh Puri here on August 18, 2020, said about 158 lakh Metric Tonne steel and 692 lakh Metric Tonne cement is likely to be consumed in construction of all the houses sanctioned under PMAY(U) as per estimates.
Addressing a webinar on ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat: Fostering Steel Usage in Housing & Construction and Aviation Sector’, the Minister said that nearly 84 lakh MT steel and 370 lakh MT cement would have already been consumed in houses grounded/completed so far. Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas and Steel, F S Kulhaste, MoS, Steel, P K Kharola, Secretary Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), D S Mishra, Secretary, MoHUA, P K Tripathi, Secretary, Steel, senior officers and stakeholders from the industry participated in the webinar organised by the CII.
Puri said that in 2019, a vision for India becoming a $ 5 trillion economies by 2024 was laid out by the Prime Minister and this growth was envisioned to be anchored in innovative, sustainable, inclusive and self- reliant infrastructure development across the country. Speaking on urbanization, the Minister said that our urban centres/cities are hubs of economic productivity, infrastructure, culture, and diversity. He added that 40% of our population or 600 million Indians are expected to live in our urban centers by 2030, according to a PIB release.
Highlighting the usage of steel in urban transport, Puri said that at present about 700 km metro length is operational in 18 cities and about 900 km network is under construction in 27 cities. He added that the average per KM requirement of steel in metro projects is about 13,000 Metric Tonnes (Types -Reinforcement Steel, Structural Steel, Stainless Steel and HT Steel).
Speaking about Indirect steel usage in Smart Cities Mission, Puri stated that 5,151 projects worth more than Rs 2 lakh crore were identified in 100 Smart Cities and the Mission has tendered around 4,700 projects worth Rs. 1,66,000 crore which is about 81% of the total projects proposed.
added that around 3,800 projects amounting to approximately Rs. 1,25,000 crore viz. 61% have been grounded and more than 1,638 projects worth over Rs. 27,000 crores have been completed. In order to improve mobility, our cities have completed 215 smart road projects and 315 projects are near completion.
Puri said that Steel is being used extensively in Airport Terminal buildings for roof structure and as support to glass façade. He stated that with a steel roof structure, large column free spaces can be created to give unobstructed view and appearance. He explained that the enhanced use of steel in Terminal buildings, Pre-engineered structures leads to ease in work and speedy construction. He stated that value of steel used in construction of Airport Terminal Buildings in the past 3 years is Rs. 570 Crore. (approx). He informed that value of steel expected to be used for construction of Airport Terminal Buildings in the next 5 years will be Rs 1,905 crore (approx).
He further said that in the next five years 15 new Terminal buildings are planned at a cost of Rs 15,000 Crore requiring large quantity of steel and added that on an average 12-15% of cost component is steel work for Airports.
Speaking about the impact on environment, the minister said that the PM had stressed on the need to use new, alternative and faster construction strategies and technologies which are disaster resilient and environment friendly where the carbon footprint is minimal. He added that the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has given a strong push to new technologies and informed that across the country as of today more than 15 lakh houses have been built/under construction using new technologies, both, under PMAY as well as through other state agencies.