Stressing the urgent need to decarbonise environment, Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep S Puri has advocated for using innovative construction technologies to reduce cost and time for completion of the housing projects.

Inaugurating the Conference on Adoption of New and Emerging Building Materials and Technologies in Construction Industry, the Minister said that the Modi government has viewed urbanisation as an opportunity for multifaceted growth and therefore India boasts one of the most comprehensive programmes for planned urbanisation.

Puri highlighted the need to view urban planning from the perspective of embedding sustainability and climate resilience across the lifecycle of built environment.

The Minister shared the multiple benefits of using these innovative construction technologies, including reduction in construction cost, time, cement used and waste generated apart from the enhanced thermal comfort and low lifecycle costs.

It is against this backdrop, that the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U), the flagship housing scheme of the Ministry, gains particular significance as it has addressed the issue of affordable housing for India’s urban poor while creating sustainable and green infrastructure.

Highlighting the use of green construction technologies in PMAY-U, Puri informed the gathering that about 43.3 lakh houses are being constructed under the mission using sustainable building materials such as flyash bricks/blocks and AAC blocks.

These houses will contribute to a reduction of 9 million tonnes of CO2 emissions by the end of December 2024.

In order to bring a paradigm shift in the housing construction sector, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) shortlisted 54 innovative construction technologies from all over the world, under the Global Housing Technology Challenge (GHTC).

Further, 6,368 houses are being built under six light house projects currently being implemented in Chennai, Rajkot, Indore, Lucknow, Ranchi and Agartala.

The Minister shared the multiple benefits of using these innovative construction technologies, including reduction in construction cost, time, cement used and waste generated apart from the enhanced thermal comfort and low lifecycle costs.

Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Kaushal Kishore reiterated the need to provide quality housing to all strata of society, using latest and innovative technologies, as this would contribute to a better quality of life in the new and self reliant India.

Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary Manoj Joshi also underscored the importance of promoting and mainstreaming the modern and green construction technologies which will help the country to address the rising housing demand.

These building materials facilitate faster and better quality housing construction to suit different geo-climatic and hazard conditions of the country.

The conference organised by CREDAI, in collaboration with CPWD and NBCC, brought together some of the brightest minds in the construction and real estate industries.