IIT Madras alumni startup 'prints' 600 square foot concrete house

Chennai, April 27

India’s first 3D printed house has come up inside the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IITM) campus here, said the institute.

In a statement issued here, IIT-Madras said the 600 square foot house built by Tvasta Manufacturing Solutions, a startup founded by IITM alumni, was virtually inaugurated by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday.

The single-storey home has a functional space comprising a single bedroom, hall, and kitchen, with the entire ensemble being designed, developed, and realised by Tvasta’s indigenous ‘Concrete 3D Printing’ Technology.

The house was developed in collaboration with Habitat for Humanity’s Terwilliger Center for Innovation in Shelter, IITM said.

The concrete 3D printing technology is a ‘Ready-to-Implement Methodology’ with no lead time on manufacturing, which significantly reduces the construction time.

This ‘Made-in-India’ technology has the potential to change the term ‘building’ to ‘printing’ in the near future.

Tvasta Manufacturing Solutions is part of the new incubator of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs established at IIT Madras called ‘ASHA Incubator.’ The company was co-founded by Adithya V.S, Chief Executive Officer, Vidyashankar C. Chief Operating Officer and Parivarthan Reddy, Chief Technology Officer.

“India definitely needs such solutions which do not require much time. This technology enables building a 3D printed house in five days. With the Prime Minister’s goal of ‘Housing for All by 2022,’ we have a huge challenge before us. A huge challenge of meeting that deadline and making sure that people who need houses get it at an affordable price. The Government incentives for that are available,” Finance Minister Sitharaman said.

“This technology is the first to be beneficiary-led in the construction industry. The machine for constructing this house can be rented, like borewells rented by farmers. It provides for large-scale, high quality and also, price assurance for the customers,” IITM Director, Prof. Bhaskar Ramamurthi said. IANS