The Indian construction industry is currently going from strength to strength, with estimates placing the value of the sector at USD 140 billion (2017-2018)!

This impressive level of construction has been evident across the board, with infrastructure spending as part of India’s GDP rising to 9% in 2017, investment in retail projects in major cities reaching USD 6.19 billion between 2006-2017 and over 7.1 million houses having been built during the last three years.

This has obviously seen a knock-on effect on the requirement for construction materials up to the challenges of large-scale, contemporary developments – with appropriate flooring solutions being one of those areas seeing an uptake in demand.

These market pressures and evolving construction needs made for a number of interesting presentations and discussions at the Innovative World of Concrete (IWC), which was held in Bengaluru recently. This was illustrated by the conference’s key themes, which amongst other things included:

• Technologies, sustainability and innovations for housing infrastructure, particularly affordable and mass housing
• Challenges and solutions for developing smart cities, such as buildings, roads, viaducts, metro/mono rails, water-supply, drainage systems, etc.
• Technologies for infrastructure and mega-projects, including highways, airports, railways, ports and inland waterways sectors
• New building materials available to the Indian construction sector

Many of India’s top consultants, contractors, suppliers and government officials were all in attendance to talk about these vital topics. Our colleagues on the ground at the event noticed a definite interest in new construction chemical solutions, such as Tuf-Strand SF, an advanced macro-synthetic fibre product which is able to reinforce and enhance the concrete used in large-scale constructions.

The ICI’s Innovative World of Concrete (IWC) event discussed topics central to the Indian construction industry.

Resin solutions were also a popular talking point, thanks to its ability to create large expanses of durable, functional and decorative flooring. The versatility of this building material means that it can be tailored to the specific onsite challenges of any space, whether it’s a shopping centre, factory, housing complex, airport or warehouse.

The ICW was organised by the Indian Concrete institute (ICI), a non- profit organisation that is one of the leading professional bodies in India that caters to the professional needs of individuals and organisations involved in concrete.