While striving at being the best in the country with their landmark projects, Egis has visibility not only in India but globally too. Egis has taken the Make in India policy seriously by training their employees to meet the global standards and their successful projects are an example of the same.
To orate about their large-scale projects which would change the phase of Indian Infrastructure and their long-term plans, we have with us Kapil Sharma, Technical Director, Head – Buildings & Aviation, Egis-India…
Read on to know more…
Q. Having been involved across different sectors of construction, what is your take on the Indian Infrastructure?
A. During the last 17 years of my experience in the construction market, I have seen the Indian Infrastructure sector grow rapidly. Centre, as well as all state governments, are spending handsomely to improve connectivity, logistics and public infra. As we know, infrastructure condition in India is still far behind than needed, this sector is poised to grow strongly in coming years maybe decades.
Q. What is your take on steel v/s RCC?
A. The construction sector is suffering from delays which also impact negatively cost and quality. If we compare our project delivery cycle with other countries, we are very slow. The solution is a faster construction technique that can be achieved by adopting modular construction and maximising factory mode. Steel provides us flexibility and speed and not only help in cutting downtime but improves quality as well.
Q. What is your inspiration behind choosing Civil Engineering as a profession?
A. My decision to major in Civil Engineering is a direct result of my desire to contribute to the development of quality infrastructure in my country, aiming towards improving its global standing. The Foundation of this lies in my childhood when I use to travel by road. The road condition was so poor that for a 130 km trip, it used to take more than five hours. The situation was similar for other infrastructure as well.
During my Engineering, I gained my initial formal exposure to Construction Management and I chose to pursue my professional career in the field of project management as it was a major bottleneck within the construction industry in India thus providing more challenges and better opportunities to learn.
Q. Having done large scale Airport Projects, according to what role does steel play in Aviation Projects?
A. As I discussed earlier, in large infra projects we require speed and flexibility. Steel provides both. A lot of parallel work can be done while substructure works are going on thus providing agility. In other words, airports projects cannot be imagined without steel.
Q. According to you which are the prime sectors of construction that will turn the tables for India, as far as the growth is concerned? Why?
A. As India is a large country and connectivity is the key for future growth, so associated sectors like roads, aviation and rail will continue to grow.
The government is pushing for making in India so the manufacturing sector should grow very fast in the next few years.
Last but not least- The logistic sector has to grow fast as a world-class logistic supply chain is a must for faster growth.
Q.Which are the grey areas that need to be addressed by the industry to advocate structural steel construction in our country?
A. In last 17 years, I was fortunate to deliver projects not only in India but also in countries like China, Thailand, Hungary &South Africa. I have noticed that share of steel structures in India is relatively very low. To overcome this, we should improve on following
- Better functional and flexible design to accommodate present and future requirements
- Trained erection teams for safe, fast and good quality construction.
- Fire and weatherproofing is very costly in India. Local R&D is needed to bring this cost down.
- Availability of larger portfolio of sections for optimized design
- to Promote domestic manufacturing and procurement of Capital Goods to attract more capital
- to create an environment for foreign investment in the steel industry
Q.Which has been your best work so far involving structural steel?
A. We are doing 3 large size airports in India. All three projects are one of its kind but in my personal opinion, Though Lucknow is the biggest with 1.2 Million SFT, Trichy airport is the one in terms of steel structure design and aesthetics.
Q.What are Egis plans for the next 5 years?
A. We have a strength of more than 2600 in India and 16000+ globally. We have started India based Engineering Design Centre which will give us growth and knowledge opportunities from overseas projects. Our future plans include doubling our size in next five years and foray in to new services like Advisory, BIM and airport O&M. As we are managing few of the airport across globe, we are very positive about participating in bids for upcoming airports under government privatization plan.
Q. What is your mantra for success?
A. Always be open for changes and adapt as fast as possible to absorb new tech.
