Real estate slow to embrace technology as expenses mount

Even as sectors across India embrace technological transformation, the construction side of the real estate industry continues to trail global trends.

- PRACHI PISAL Mumbai, 6 July

While technologies like Building Information Modelling (BIM), 3D printing, drone surveillance, and IoT-enabled smart building systems are increasingly common overseas, their adoption in Indian construction remains limited and largely experimental, developers said.

Boman Irani, chairman and managing director, Keystone Realtors (Rustomjee Group), said: "With Building Information Modelling (BIM), 3D is already there, which saves time and cost. All of this put together is a sign of the future, but it has still not hit majorly. When 3D printing came into play, we thought it was going to be the change the industry needed. But really, it hasn't done much. They say that one can do up to seven floors with that technology. But in terms of the cost, it's much higher today."

Green building technologies, while showing growth, still account for less than 5 per cent of India's construction activity, said Dr Prashant Thakur, regional director & head, Research & Advisory, Anarock group.