The 13th edition of Roof India 2014—the largest event on roofing and allied products in Asia—is scheduled to be held in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, during May 16-18, 2014. The exhibition is a benchmark event in Asia for roofing, cladding, pre-engineered and metal building systems, tensile architecture, green roofs, roof landscaping, waterproofing, insulation, roofing machinery and roof fastening systems among others.

The international exhibition will provide a platform for the building construction and infrastructure sector to converge, network and do business, through partnerships and joint ventures. The three-day expo will see over a hundred exhibitors and an estimated 5,000 visitors from India and all over the world.

Roofing_ProjectsMonitorIn spite of the global economic slowdown, India is still the second fastest growing economy in the world and the country’s building construction and infrastructure sector continues to do well. The Indian economy is the fourth largest in the world as measured by purchasing power parity and a GDP of $4.06 trillion (2010). Post-elections, the formation of a new government in New Delhi is expected to boost investor sentiment and kick-start all sectors of the economy, particularly the construction and infrastructure industry.

Exhibitors and visitors at Roof India 2014 can expect to strike lucrative deals in nearly every sphere of the construction industry such as ports and airports, pre-engineered buildings and warehouses, metro and monorail rail, hotels, resorts and serviced apartments, IT parks and SEZ, industrial clusters, integrated townships, sports stadiums, and retail malls, hypermarkets and multiplexes, among others.

India’s $12-billion real estate market is expanding at a 30 per cent annual rate. Analysts at Merrill Lynch predict that the real estate market will grow to $90 billion in 10 years.

For instance, India continues to see a wave of new shopping centre development despite some developers pushing back completion dates due to financing issues, says CBRE South Asia Pvt. Ltd. About 500,000 sq. m of new retail space is under construction in New Delhi. The largest two projects, DLF Mall of India NOIDA (204,385 sq. m) and Logix City Centre Mall (111,483 sq. m), are both located in Noida. Among Tier-II cities in India, Hyderabad is the most active market with a current supply pipeline (483,000 sq. m) three times greater than its existing stock. Buoyant occupier demand is pushing a strong development pipeline in New Delhi with 500,000 sq. m of new retail space currently under construction. All this means opportunities for the roofing industry.

“Strong economic growth in many Asian markets has been attracting an increasing number of cross-border retailers. Even though China remains by far the most active market for shopping center development, Tier I & II cities of India are also among the most active globally,” Anshuman Magazine, Chairman and Managing Director, CBRE South Asia Pvt. Ltd said. “Unfortunately, however, there continues to exist a dearth of quality shopping space in many of our market places. Along with the large-scale urbanisation of our leading cities and a burgeoning middle class population, it is this that has been driving shopping centre development forward.”

Affordable housing
The housing sector will see increasing demand for roofing solutions and technologies in coming years. The Government of India’s thrust on affordable housing through a plethora of housing schemes for both the urban and rural poor will get a fresh impetus after a new government takes over. For instance, the Rajiv Awas Yojana, whose aim is an India free of slums, will run from 2013 through 2022 and will see the creation of affordable housing stock for the urban poor in towns, cities and urban agglomerations. The government will subsidise the cost of projects in all three segments.

Likewise, the modified Affordable Housing in Partnership Scheme will provide a subsidy of Rs.75,000 per Economically Weaker Section or Low Income Group dwelling unit of 21-40 sq. m area for housing and internal development components taken up under various kinds of partnerships. The projects would have a minimum size of 250 affordable dwelling units with a mix of EWS, LIG, Middle Income Group and Higher Income Group along with commercial space of which at least 60 per cent of FSI would be reserved for dwelling units of carpet area of not more than 60 sq. m. The scheme will apply to all towns, cities and urban agglomerations under Rajiv Awas Yojana.

Besides, the government continues to build affordable houses for slum-dwellers and urban poor under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission which has been extended till March 2015.

Apart from real estate and housing, other sectors that will benefit the roofing industry are the ongoing construction of greenfield ports and airports including modernisation of existing facilities; metro rail projects currently underway in various cities; multi-storey IT and software parks and integrated townships coming up across the country; SEZ, biotech parks, and other industrial parks and clusters; and the construction of new malls, hypermarkets and multiplexes in both Tier I & II cities.


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