— Amit Bharana, President, Era Buildsys Ltd
Era Buildsys Ltd, the pre-engineering arm of Era
Group based in Noida, enjoys approximately 20 per
cent market share in the PEB sector. With the demand
for pre-engineered buildings increasing, Amit Bharana
predicts a bright future for the sector in the next few
years. An interview by Prashant C. Trikannad.
The current demand for preengineered
buildings in India is
about 1.2 million tpa. What are
the growth prospects for this sector,
and your company in particular,
over the next five years?
The demand for pre-engineered
buildings is increasing with
increased emphasis on green
building construction. The PEB
structures are created with a
high proportion of recycled content,
making them lighter by
about 30 per cent than the conventional
steel buildings. Due
to diversified uses and advantages
of PEBs today, pre-engineered
buildings are the most
preferred choice among the
architects, builders, developers
and industrialists.
The prerequisite for the construction
sector is to meet tight
construction schedules and
demanding deadlines for PEBbased
construction technique
offering the most innovative, hitech,
and quicker methods of
construction, ensuring efficient,
cost-effective and speedy completion
of projects.
The current pre-engineered
steel building manufacturing
capacity is 6 lakh tpa. The industry
is growing at a compound
rate of 25 to 30 per cent. In the
next five years, steel production
will double owing to advantages
of PEB; several non-conventional
segments are also getting
attracted to PEB and the potential
will rise up to 2.2 million
tonnes, which is four to five times
today's scenario.
Era has one of the largest
automated manufacturing
facilities with machine
installed capacity of 2,40,000
tonnes at Pantnagar in Uttarakhand,
and Nagpur in Maharashtra.
Era has three strategic
business verticals—Engineering,
Manufacturing and Execution—
to meet and enhance the
quantity as well as quality of its
services. Covering pan-India
and stretching its arms beyond
the boundaries of the country,
Era Buildsys Ltd has a clear
vision of being one of the premier
and pioneering pre-engineered
mega steel structure
and building systems company
now and over next five years.
What is the market share of Era
Buildsys Ltd in the PEB sector? In
which areas is your company
executing the maximum number
of projects?
Era Buildsys Ltd covers approximately
20 per cent market share
in the PEB sector, from power
plants to steel bridges, aviation
hangers to sports stadiums, and
warehouse and industrial buildings
to multi-storey high-rise
buildings. Era has covered
almost all sectors.
What will be the key demand
drivers for the building solutions
industry in coming years?
The construction industry
claims to cover over 50 per cent
of demand, primarily driven by
steel industry. Steel structures
have a strong presence in industrial
as well as commercial
buildings such as factory and
warehouse buildings, aviation
hangers, steel bridges, power
plants etc. Future potential in
high-rise buildings, multistoried
buildings and green steel
buildings could be significant,
considering the fast pace of construction
desired.
With the development of infrastructure,
a high demand for
steel structures is seen within
this segment.
The growth in PEB is driven
mainly by the manufacturing
and commercial sectors. What is
the share of each of these two
segments and in which specific
areas of applications?
Advantages of pre-engineered
buildings like durability, quick
delivery and flexibility have led
PEB players to venture into highrise
residential and commercial
complexes also. The benefits of
early occupancy by the use of
PEB in residential and commercial
segment would be the major
USP for manufacturing as well
as commercial sectors.
Both the segments are catered to
equally in areas of FMCG, power
sector, warehouses, industrial
buildings, aviation hangars,
multi-storey buildings, stadiums
etc., to name a few.
What is the potential for the PEB
sector in new-build segments
like hangars, warehouses, special
economic zones, malls and
multiplexes, sports stadiums,
and workshops?
Era Buildsys is already serving
segments like hangars, warehouses,
malls and multiplexes,
sports stadiums and workshops.
The potential has already been
explored and Era is exploring
newer areas to stretch its arms to
cover almost all segments.
Some of the deliverables in the
above mentioned segments by
Era are:
- Warehouses: BSBK AKG
(India) Pvt. Ltd, V.K. Polycoat
and Kalpataru
- Sports stadiums: IGI, Karni
Singh, Chhatrasal and JLN stadiums
How can PEB contribute to alleviating
the problem of housing
in India?
As pre-engineered buildings
take less time to construct and
are also durable compared to
conventional buildings it can
prove to be a good solution for
housing. Quick delivery, durability
and flexibility provide a convenient
solution for solving the
housing problem in India. This
can be done by creating modular
designs in a patronised manner
along with approvals from the
urban development authorities,
to accept steel buildings as a suitable
alternative to concrete on
basis of seismic-proof quality of
PEB as in a built criterion.
What are the different materials
that go into making your products?
How are you affected by the
volatility in prices of materials
like steel?
The different materials that are
used in making products of a preengineered
building are:
- Main framing or vertical
columns
- Purlins, girts and eave struts
- Sheeting and insulation or prefab
panels Brick and cement board walls
Steel is the major component
which can contribute to 60 per
cent of the sale value.
The steel industry is subjected
to volatility due to the fact that
many producers are unable to
establish fixed prices for their
purchase of raw-material well
ahead of time. The steel producer's
problem is combined
with the difficulty for the majority
of steel consumers to switch
to other substitutes, as well as
the lack of risk management
tools to reduce price risk. Thus,
volatility remains high in buoyant
times. But we normally go
for rate contract with the major
product portfolio manufacturers
and believe to look into
future buying.
What are your company's efforts
in green building and energy
efficiency?
Green buildings often include
measures to reduce energy
use. To increase the efficiency
of the building Era will
envelope usage of high-efficiency
windows and insulation
in walls, ceilings, and
floors. We save construction
time to fast delivery and quick
site erection.
Reduction in project cost
results from time saving on the
project; large clear spans buildings
supplied in clear spans up to
90 metres are particularly suitable
for aircraft hangars, sports
facilities etc; and flexibility in
expansion can be designed for
future expansion in length,
width and height, superior quality,
and energy efficiency. Buildings
will be supplied with roof
and wall insulation to reduce
energy cost and improve comfort
level inside the buildings.
What are the various products
and services offered by Era
Buildsys Ltd?
Era offers turnkey solutions for
all kind of services, PEB and
civil. We have converted a variety
of concrete structures into
steel—right from industrial
buildings to aviation hangars,
from sports stadiums to power
projects, and from multistoried
buildings to bridges and highways.
To name a few of the products
provided by Era as preengineered
building systems,
basic structures, primary
frames, secondary frames, flashing
and trimming, crane buildings,
mezzanine systems, structural
subsystems, accessories,
and high-rise constructions.
Apart from this roofing/rafter
system, wall cladding and
interiors are also provided.
What are your company's longterm
plans for the Indian PEB
market?
EBL's future diversification
would be more towards
green building, further expansion
into heavy fabricated
bolted structures for power
plants, entering innovative
engineering products, and
exploring export potential with
a much wider vision in the
global market.