Wrapping up the Debate

1. National Conference on “Affordable Housing for All” June 2, 2007, Mumbai Wrapping up the Debate Dr. H.S. Anand Secretary Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation Government of India

2. Incentivisation of R&D • Besides developing several new alternatives including use of agro-industrial wastes, the R&D efforts have helped in improving performance of traditional materials and in formulating Indian Standards, Specifications and Codes for materials, processes, components, planning efficiency, safety & comfort, design and construction aspects of building. • Building construction being a very conservative and widely fragmented trade, the pace for adoption of new developments to make a significant impact on large scale is not that fast as desired.

3. Lab to Prototype Development • Upscaling of available R&D results through: • evaluation of bench level results, prototype development of production processes, • identification & development of suitable machinery and formulation of technology packages, • develop process technologies with required inputs from industrial and design engineering, • setting up pilot projects and plants, • transfer of proven technologies

4. Techno Financial Feasibility of Prototypes • Develop Techno-Economic Feasibility Reports on innovative and cost effective technologies for different levels of investment and production.

5. Large Scale Application of Low Cost Technologies • To embark upon the field level application of innovative building materials and technologies by way of their implementation in housing projects by the construction agencies in public and private sector.

6. Fiscal Incentives for Low Cost Housing Technologies • Government of India provided several fiscal incentives by exempting production of new materials from levy of excise duty and custom duty since 1991 till 2006. • With the incentives given in recent past it has become possible to promote large number of environment friendly and energy efficient materials by attracting investment from the private sector for establishing production units. • Continuation of these duty concessions are essential for promoting use of innovative housing technologies.

7. Capacity Building & Certification • Capacity building by organising training programmes, workshop and EDPs in the field of innovative building materials and safer construction technologies for architects, engineers, supervisors, entrepreneurs, artisans, builders, workers, etc. • This helps not only in the dissemination of technologies but also increases the confidence level of practising professionals and the end-users in the field level applications. • Develop certified construction workforce for quality construction.

8. Aesthetics in Low Cost Technologies

9. Aesthetics in Low Cost Technologies

10. “Most materials have their own special characteristics and if used honestly and simply they contribute to the looks of a building merely from their colour, their texture and the pattern formed by joining them together. There is no need to cover them with costly finishes. Let a brick wall look like brick wall and a stone wall like a stone wall. Concrete should look like concrete and not plastered or painted to look like marble”. ....... Laurie Baker

11. Thank you