TOWARDS a TALL FUTURE

The growing demand for more living space and scarcity of land availability will lead to vertical development of building projects in Indian cities. This will also help bring in more quality and advanced technologies to the segment.

India is the second-most populated country in the world and so its cities. Growing urban population and shrinking availability of land is pushing for a vertical development of realty projects. While skyscrapers have become a necessity in metros and Tier 1 cities in India, Tier 2 cities are now gradually following the trend with growing population and changing lifestyles. Property and land are becoming costly and scarce where tall buildings pose the best option. Developing vertically through constructed structures can accommodate more people, than developing horizontally, which saves availability of land also.

Current market scenario

Amidst the growing need of cities to go vertical, the share of high-rises (G+20 floors or more) has scaled newer heights over the last few years.

As per ANAROCK Research, of the total 1,130 projects launched in 2021 across the top 7 cities, nearly 275 projects were high-rises (G+20 floors). In terms of the units, of total 2.30 lakh units launched in 2021, nearly, 93,400 units were part of high-rise buildings.

Prashant Thakur, Senior Director & Head - Research, ANAROCK Group, says, Various state governments have been trying to promote skyscrapers. For instance, last year in 2021, we saw Gujarat government promote skyscrapersas tall as those in Dubai and Singapore. In this regard, the state government approved the 'tall building policy' which will allow construction of buildings with 70 floors or more. As per the old laws, only buildings up to 23 floors or within 70 m height werepermitted. As for the height of the building, the new permissible height is 100 m or more. The cities where tall buildings can be built include Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot, and Gandhinagar.”

Role of materials & technology

High-rise buildings became possible with the invention of vertical transportation means, the elevator (lift) and less expensive, more abundant building materials. The materials used for the structural system of high-rise buildings are reinforced concrete and steel.

Technology has made construction sites safer and workers more efficient. According to KT Jithendran, CEO, Birla Estates, fasttrack construction methods are vital in high-rise constructions. “Use of modular systems, whichare developedin factory environment, provides faster and quality installations. Modular MEP installations, use of wall panels and unitised façade are particularly suited for high-rises due to higher number of repetitions. AI/ML and IOT are also playing a key role in the modern high-rise construction. Robots and artificial intelligence (AI) are also being used to monitor jobsite progress with real-time, actionable data to improve jobsite productivity,” he adds.

Talking about the materials, he points out, “Use of high strength and high-performance concrete is one of the most important recent technological advancements, which is bringing about a remarkable change in the high-rise construction industry. Modern technological development allows concrete with compressive strength of 120-150 Mpa vs 40-80 Mpa earlier. This has helped to reduce the dimensions of vertical members in high-rise buildings, which in turn has led to more usable space.”

Challenges

There are challenges involved in planning, executionand handover of high-rise projects. High-rise structures pose particular design challenges for structural and geotechnical engineers, particularly if situated in a seismically active region or if the underlying soils have geotechnical risk factors. They also pose serious challenges to firefighters during emergencies in high-rise structures.

Dr Niranjan Hiranandani, Vice Chairman - NAREDCO and MD, Hiranandani Group, explains, “At the planning stage, the challenges from the design and architecture perspective include ensuring wind and earthquake resistant design. Geotechnical investigation of the plot of land where the foundation will be done is important. The focus is on lightweight construction, in turn translating into challenges as regards sourcing and proper usage of such construction material. Providing for a large number of end-users translates into parking challenges, requiring provision of basements; and efficient vertical transportation system (elevators).During the actual construction phase, the major challenges include construction and fire safety. Post hand-over, plumbing and HVAC services need to have been implemented in a manner that ensures efficient usage. And finally, use of IT and ITeS - from design aspects created using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to stages of execution, operation and maintenance - provision of smart services including automated parking systems, to cite an example.”

Policy support

Government in the recent years has brought in a lot of landmark announcements that will drive the development of more high-rise buildings and skyscrapers. However, there are still many challenges faced by the stakeholders of the segment. Nagesh Veeturi, Executive Director - Civil, KEC International, says, “The policy support from the government has been fair; however, a lot of improvisations in this area can be done with the consent of developers. Urban planning experts claim that timely amendments in policies will help simplify and expedite approvals for real estate developments across cities.”

Shrikant Shitole, President - CREDAI MCHI-KDU & Managing Director, Tycoons Group, adds, “We hope to receive support from the government in terms of faster clearances for high-rise projects and providing better infrastructure. The government should address the demand side by maintaining stable housing interest rates. We also expect the input tax credit on GST to be allowed,ie., efficient tax structure needs to be defined to boost demand and increase financial viabilities of the projects.”

Market outlook

The scarcity of land availability coupled with the growing urban population and changing lifestyle of people will drive the growth of high-rise buildings in future. This growth trend will also pave the way for new-age technologies and materials.

“In Metro and Tier-1 cities, high rise structures are a necessity. Indian real estate needs to adopt new technologies and adapt to new systems that ensure proper planning and construction. The need is for a planning, design and sanctioning process that is not just digital but also enabled to follow global best practices as also not allowing any short-cuts during the planning and construction stages. Indian real estate in its high-rise segment needs to ensure a holistic perspective when it comes to the impact that the structure will have on its environment. Sustainable is the new watchword, just being eco-friendly won't work. Finally, 'smart' which means tech-enabled and automated are the 'can't miss out' aspects, as we move ahead,” points out Dr Hiranandani.

Shitloe adds, “We expect that the scarcity of land in the city centre and rising demand for high-rise structures would increase demand for skyscrapers in the coming years. New policies like UDCPR have enhanced FSI policy structure, wherein density of FSI has increased on the same plot and thus high-rise projects are inevitable in places like MMR.”

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