Hummingbird News Desk
CHENNAI, 29 APRIL: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday inaugurated India’s first 3D printed house at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras campus. The house has been constructed by Tvasta Manufacturing Solutions, a startup founded by IIT Madras alumni, which is a is part of the new incubator of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) established at IIT Madras.
The 600 square feet single-story house has been constructed using indigenous concrete 3D printing technology and in collaboration with Habitat for Humanity’s Terwilliger Center for Innovation in Shelter, the institute said. Using this technology, a house can be build in five days.
Ms Sitharaman congratulated IIT Madras for encouraging innovation and bringing new concepts and ideas to life. “India definitely needs such solutions which do not require much time. This technology enables building a 3D printed house in 5 days. With the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s goal of ‘Housing for All by 2022,’ we have a huge challenge before us. A huge challenge of meeting that deadline and making sure that people who need houses get it at an affordable price. The Government incentives for that are available,” the minister said.
She also said, “The presentation made earlier by Tvasta tells me everything is Atma Nirbhar. From the idea till the furnished house, even the design is all from India. India needs more of this… Conventional housing requires timing, material, logistics, transporting of material, and so on. But if this technology can produce houses in different locales at five days per house, it would not be a big challenge to build 100 million houses by 2022.”
“I think the Technology Sub-Mission, which is working under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) also has a project called ‘Light House Project,’ wherein in Indore, Chennai and a few other places are building 1,000 houses in each location through innovative technologies in 12 months. If the Policymaker are aware of these developments that you have shown now, India is set for a bright future in terms of meeting the target for affordable houses,” added Ms Sitharaman.
The Government of India has several flagship welfare schemes that address the problems of housing, sanitation, disaster-time rehabilitation, and besides projects to construct military bunkers, among others. The mandate of these is to facilitate the building and installation of several million physical structures across India. Tvasta’s primary market would be the Indian subcontinent with the focus on providing construction-related 3D Printing services and solutions for such Government welfare programs.
Lauding the work done by the Tvasta, Prof. Bhaskar Ramamurthi, Director, IIT Madras, said, “This technology is the first to be beneficiary-led in the construction industry. The machine for constructing this house can be rented, like borewells rented by farmers. It provides for large-scale, high quality and also, price assurance for the customers.”
Sharing the startups’ vision, Adithya VS, Co-Founder and CEO, Tvasta Manufacturing Solutions, said, “This technology can enable deep personalization of construction for the ultimate target segment – the individual. 3D Printing can ensure that affordable, good quality housing is available to all Indians with a technology that is built in India and symbolizes Atmaribhar Bharat.”
Speaking on the occasion, Anoop Nambiar, Country Director (India), Terwilliger Center for Innovation in Shelter, Habitat for Humanity, said, “A widespread adoption and deployment of this technology could contribute significantly in reducing the housing gap in India and around the world.”
