Is India’s Rs 5.7 trillion infrastructure investments at risk?

Ministry of Roads, Transport & Highways is trying to increase the speed of road construction from 27 km per day to 45 km per day. Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs is building affordable housing at breakneck speed to reach the target of ‘Housing for All’ by 2022. However, the investment in roads and housing and all other infrastructure will become a mockery unless there is a strict ban on inferior quality of TMT rebars. FIRST Construction Council tested 67 samples at a recognised lab and the results are shocking.
 
The Majerhat bridge collapse in Kolkata, the Gokhale foot-overbridge in Mumbai or the Varanasi flyover collapse, the culprit is the sudden inability of the structure which gives way taking the commuters and civilians unaware causing tragic deaths! So on one hand the infrastructure sector is propelling India’s overall development and requires to ensure time-bound creation of world-class infrastructure in the country and on the other it needs to ensure that the process of execution is done keeping in mind best safety standards and such that the structures have an extended life. This year Rs 5.7 trillion has been allocated towards infrastructure in the Union Budget.
 
For instance, the government is planning to build 50,000 km of roads worth USD 250 billion by 2022, of which Rs 1 trillion will be spend during 2018-20. For ports, government has envisioned a total of 189 port modernisation projects involving an investment of USD 22 billion by the year 2035. Housing seems to be a major opportunity in terms of growth. The Indian real estate market is expected to touch USD 180 billion by 2020.To put it in numbers, only affordable housing is an opportunity worth Rs 6.25 trillion by 2022. There will be a requirement of additional 25 million units by 2022 and considering the Rs 25 lakh average cost of such houses the opportunity is worth Rs 6.25 trillion.
 
The use of raw materials of quality that deliver the infrastructure project is critical. However, recent accidents, whether it is Kolkata bridge collapse, a foot over bridge collapse in and caving-in of a car parking wall in Mumbai indicates that there is a dire need for the better adherence to quality standards in the use of raw material to enhance the life of concrete. In fact, these incidents show lack of technical safeguards and neglect of standards in the procurement departments which do not pay heed for quality raw material and lay greater emphasis on cost-cutting methods.
 
While a lot has been researched, written and spoken about raw materials, there is hardly any research available on Reinforcement Bars (ReBars) also known as thermo-mechanically-treated (TMT) bars. Rebars form the backbone of any construction, be it the foundation, column, beam or the slab in any RCC structure. The quality of rebars used in any structure is critical to the overall quality of the structure.
 
One must understand that, considering the average steel intensity of about 10 percent by value in an RCC construction in India, the total construction industry can be valued at 10 times the valuation of the rebar industry which works out to an astronomical figure of Rs 12 trillion per annum. With such a large construction industry being critically dependent on the quality of steel rebars used, it is therefore imperative that all efforts are made to produce and promote the usage of good quality rebars in India.
 
FIRST Construction Council decided to probe further and look into the factors deciding the quality of Rebar what it would eventually be. We realised that it is more important to make a practical analysis rather than a theoretical one. When we started our research preparations with the support of Construction World magazine, we analysed few leading players from the primary as well as secondary list of companies. 

However, we eventually realised the gravity of the subject and decided to undertake the analysis of pan-India based TMT manufacturers. We analysed 66 TMT bars samples manufactured by 26 brands. And as the results are now out, of the 26 brands, 18 brands have failed as Phosphorous and combinations of sulphur + phosphorous were higher than required quantity. This impurity as per the tests indicates that 70% of the brands failed to meet basic quality standards.

This clearly indicates, how even renowned players spending plenty on advertising have failed to clear basic research test. To become a quality Rebar, all the chemical and physical parameters are to be according to standards. Failure even on a single parameter means we are compromising on our safety standards.

NOTE: In India BIS 1786 is a compulsory standard for steel. Steel of optimum quality can only be manufactured by using good quality raw materials and reliable rolling process. Even if one of these parameters – the raw material or the manufacturing process – is weak, the quality of finished steel will not be at par with the standards mentioned in the BIS specification (BIS 1786, Amendment 3, 2018). 

The FIRST Construction Council is a non-profit infrastructure think-tank, focused on providing the latest updates on the construction industry in India, and dedicated to promoting its causes and needs. FCC is associated with numerous leading business publications in India, and with a combined reach of over 10,00,000, is strongly placed to disseminate knowledge and ideas to relevant stakeholders across the country. For the last 15 years, the organizations predecessor, FIRST (Foundation of Infrastructure Research Studies Training) has been involved in research on infrastructure, and has published white papers on policy, reports, newsletters, and financial models to evaluate competitiveness in the industry. The FCC aims to carry on this work, and provide a platform to promote the adoption of best practices, and be the torchbearer for all policy initiatives that are needed to enhance the importance and welfare of the construction industry and its industry’s unified voice.

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This release was published on openPR.