A REVOLUTION IN STRUCTURE

PEBs are becoming increasingly prevalent in construction. And why

- MOLLY R

India became the world's second largest consumer of finished steel last year. However, India's per-capita steel consumption, at 77.2 kg, is still only a third of the 233 kg average worldwide per-capita steel consumption. So, the scope for steel in the country is huge. In the ongoing fiscal, domestic construction, the railways and the capital goods sectors are expected to boost the consumption of steel in India by 7.5%, according to the Indian Steel Association. In the realm of construction, pre-engineered steel buildings will play a role in increasing the uptake of steel for various reasons.

Pre-engineered building (PEB) industry is going through some transformation. Manish Garg, CEO, Interarch Building Products, says, "In the last one year several new segments have used PEBS like data centers and non-industrial buildings. Interarch delivered a data centre in Mumbai for an international service provider for cloud services. Currently, Interarch is building several non-industrial buildings for engineering colleges and corporate offices. Another thing that has changed during the last year is that customers have become more quality conscious, and a lot of "Me Too" products have been rejected by customers. Customers have started asking for quality verification and assurance. They have started demanding quality, safety, and service that can mostly only be delivered by a large player like Interarch."