As per reports - Aluminium beams are being shipped in from Kansas City and taken to the project site, about 11km from Electronic City in Bangalore, to build 1,900 homes at prices of up to `10 lakh each.
The lightweight aluminium beams, instead of concrete, will use a cast-on-site technology; they will be erected at the location and concrete will be poured on them, giving the flats a durable structure. Windows and doors will then be fitted in.
Both the technology and the aluminium structures—imported from US-based Western Forms—would reduce the per sq. ft cost of the homes by about `35-40 and construction time by more than one-fourth, allowing for an apartment to be built each day.
The 16.3-acre Vaibhava project, the maiden venture of Value and Budget Housing Corp. (VBHC)—floated by entrepreneur Jaithirth Rao and his former Citibank colleague P.S. Jayakumar—was launched on Wednesday.
The model will be replicated across cities with a larger aim to build a million such homes over the next 10 years.
“Urban India needs such projects but in large numbers,” said Deepak Parekh, chairman of India’s largest mortgage lender HDFC Ltd, who was present at the launch. “Such projects do face difficulties like not getting good plots at reasonable prices, particularly in Maharashtra, where we need the state government to get it executed.”
HDFC will provide housing finance for the project.
The Vaibhava project follows the launch of a similar housing model in the vicinity by Ramesh Ramanathan, who also runs the non-profit organization Janaagraha. Ramanathan’s firm Janaadhar Constructions Pvt. Ltd is building 500 homes in the first phase at prices of `5 lakh each or less.
VBHC has bought land in Chennai, Hyderabad and Bhiwadi near the National Capital Region (NCR) for similar projects and is in the process of choosing locations in Pune, Nashik and Navi Mumbai.
The flats at Vaibhava are priced at `4.5-10 lakh and come in three sizes—studio, one-bedroom-hall and two-bedroom-hall.
“We are targeting buyers with a monthly income of `10,000-30,000 and will stick to this pricing for the next 24-36 months, but we plan to bring down the rates further,” VBHC’s Rao said.
The project already has 100 bookings and buyers will be given possession in 12 months.
Both Rao and managing director and chief executive Jayakumar said a financial inclusion package is on the way, in which VBHC will step in to enable buyers access credit. Rao didn’t disclose details but said VBHC will only facilitate the process for HDFC.
Source - An article in Live Mint.
