Infrastructure boom to up steel demand by 10%

The construction industry in India is all set to see an estimated 8 per cent increase in steel production besides increasing consumption to 10 per cent.

"Despite being one of the largest producers of steel, we are one of the lowest consumers in the world. However, with the infrastructure boom, this will rise to 10 per cent within a short span," said R K P Singh, director general, Institute of Steel Development and Growth (INSDAG).

Singh was in the city to attend a seminar on "Steel in Construction" sponsored by Essar Steel.

The seminar is aimed at introducing not only some new concepts in construction, but also comprehensively showcase the emergence of steel as a primary building material in modern construction, said Vikram Amin, director-sales and marketing, Essar Steel.

The estimated investment in Indian infrastructure by 2012 will fetch Rs 2,62,000 crore as per the Prime Minister's committee on infrastructure.

Singh in his presentation said, "Compared to concrete, steel provides 10 per cent more space. In urban areas, with airports, bridges, flyovers, multi-storeyed buildings, multilevel corporate buildings, stadiums, exhibition halls and warehouses coming up, consumption of steel will rise."

In addition to it being easily repairable structurally and so that it can be modified easily, steel has a better seismic resistance and is recyclable also.

T Venkatesh Rao, deputy GM, civil and structural, engineering design & research centre, Larsen and Toubro in his presentation on various steel applications in infrastructure projects said, "Steel has the potential to become the most preferred material in the construction industry."

He showed various options for cement industry to use steel effectively in their new units. "At present 20 per cent steel is used inside the cement plant. Although it will take some time to penetrate, use of steel in cement units will rise," Rao asserted.

L&T is using large portions of steel in its cement plant at Jadapatra, besides doing the same for Madras Cement expansion, as well as for the Lafarge and Oman Cement plants. Power plants and ports will rest heavily on steel in future, he said.

"Common sense is becoming rarer," according to Anil Laul, CEO and principal architect of Anangpur Building Centre, who made his presentation on architect perspective on steel structures.

"The need for flyovers suggest that pedestrals have been ignored for a long time now." The cobweb reinforcement in slabs can prevent cracks from occuring and also saves steel, he explained.

"The cube on the vertex can also be effectively used. By truncating the carbon vertex structure, one can build a new floor," he said.