Zamil Steel is the only Indian company to have a global R&D set-up

Tuesday, 22nd June 2021

We forecast the needs for the next 10 years down the line and come up with its internal standard, says Alakesh Roy, Managing Director, Zamil Steel Buildings India Pvt Ltd.

Alakesh Roy

Managing Director
Zamil Steel Buildings India Pvt Ltd.

What are the upcoming trends in the Indian Pre-engineered Buildings (PEBs) market? What is trending in steel for PEBs?

People are now opting for large square feet area for a single building with the advent of e-commerce and mega manufacturing plants. Earlier, due to limitation in the land area, the height of the building used to be 7-9 m. But now we are getting an average height of 13-14 m and is increasing. Another trend we are witnessing in PEBs is vertical manufacturing.

How far R&D and indigenous technology play a role in your product developments?

Apart from companies in the USA, Zamil Steel is the only company in India having a global R&D set up. When we talk about projections across the globe using Indian standard or British standard, they try to update their standards to the needs. On the other hand, Zamil Steel forecasts the needs for the next 10 years down the line and come up with our internal standards. For e.g., as cyclone Tauktae has hit Gujarat and the west coast, all the buildings won't be able to take the wind load. Our company can take care of the wind load during this kind of situation with our specific design structure.

Nowadays, people are opting for seamless roofs and we have a patented product named MaxSEAM. It is generally a floating roof, which doesn't add to the rigidity of the structure. Zamil Steel is the only company in India and in the sub-continent, which has lateral facing in all our buildings with standing seam roof. It gives protection against high wind velocity and earthquake, and our buildings will always be stable.

Earlier, we used to design buildings with 250-grade steel and now we have moved to 410-450 grade steel for higher strength measures.

As India deals with the second wave of Covid-19, what is your business forecast for the domestic as well as the international market?

We have invested everywhere in terms of capacities and capabilities, be it India or Vietnam. In Vietnam, we have doubled our capacity and increased it by 40 per cent in India over the last year. Currently, the market condition is dull due to Covid-19 and also steel prices are increasing. As a result of this, the project cost will go up and no project will be viable if product prices also do not go up. This cycle will enable inflation in the profit. When the product prices go up, you are unable to compete with the cheaper source. This will be a key challenge and unless we don't address it, we won't be able to sustain the growth that we are aiming for in the next 3-5 years.

How do you assess the demand growth of the PEB market in the coming years?

The demand growth for the infrastructure will be in the PEB only. People have understood the advantages of PEB and are not willing to go with any structure for industrial and office construction. In Tier I, Tier II and Tier III cities, people are experimenting with PEB construction for offices which is faster, easy to assemble and fit-out. We are optimistic about the growth of the PEB sector and even in the housing sector also, it is making a mark.