Leveraging Modular Construction to Transform Housing in India

In an interaction with Thiruamuthan, Assistant Editor at Industry Outlook Magazine, Siddharth Murthy, Managing Director of Vascon Engineers Limited, discusses how modular construction is transforming the housing sector in India in terms of speed, quality, and sustainability. He emphasizes the importance of partnerships, training in modern methods, and an infrastructure environment able to support increased volume in the industry.

Siddharth is a strategic infrastructure leader with 19 years of experience, combining technical expertise and business leadership to drive innovation, sustainability, and growth across infrastructure and real estate projects.

With India’s urban housing demand surging and timelines tightening, how is modular construction emerging as a scalable solution to address speed, quality, and affordability together?  

The way to go is through modular construction. As an analogy, in the old days, when someone wanted to build a cupboard, one had to hire carpenters to work in the house, cleaning dust, waste, and collateral damage. The individuals then took up the convenience of enjoying quality ready-made modular furniture. On the same note, on-site dust, fluctuating quality of labor, and inconsistent workmanship have been identified as some of the challenges that confront conventional construction today. Modular construction mitigates such issues by producing parts at off-site locations and putting them together at on-site locations. Other nations such as Singapore have gone further with this methodology with Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DFMA) where complete furnished transportable pods are made which can be installed using a crane. The high population of India provides a chance to attain scale and the modular construction can be economically justified, allowing the construction to be faster, higher quality, and affordable. 

Despite its growing acceptance, modular construction faces on-ground integration challenges. Given this, how are developers aligning supply chains and skilled labor to ensure consistent project outcomes?  

Modular construction should be planned and organized very carefully. It is paramount that every stakeholder, such as an architect, structural engineer, MEP designers, landscape designers, etc., should have a common vision. Moreover, modern construction technologies should be taught to students and novice professionals instead of old-fashioned methods. The aspect of scalability and capital expenditure should be well planned. The early projects might encounter efficiency issues because of the learning curves, and pilot programs are necessary. After being satisfied with the pilot results, it is possible to implement it on a larger scale, achieving the same project results.  

Also Read: Global Market Trends in Technical Textiles

As several states introduce incentives for prefabricated and modular housing, are India’s building codes evolving fast enough to enable large-scale, compliant modular construction? 

India already has building codes on most of the constructions. Nevertheless, effective modular implementation must have a strong method statement that should be adhered to. Although incentives are present in various states, there are logistical issues present. The infrastructure needed to move such prefabricated modules transported off-site facilities needs to support large trucks, and often the cities cannot allow heavy vehicles during peak hours of the day. Modular construction can only reach the scale of success when roads, carriageways, and the infrastructure of the site are prepared.  

While modular methods reduce construction time significantly, cost competitiveness remains debated, how are developers balancing upfront investment with long-term operational efficiency?  

Modular construction should be taken as a long-term provision in development. Direct expenses cannot be compensated with a single project; they must be dispersed across several projects to warrant economic allure. Just like LED lighting and crane adoption in India, resistance will wane with further efficiencies and gains would be seen. When applied strategically to multiple projects, modular construction will attain cost-effectiveness and efficiency in long-term operation.  

With new lightweight and sustainable materials entering modular design, how are technology providers ensuring structural integrity and adaptability to India’s diverse climate conditions?  

The most important priority is structural integrity. Lightweight materials lower deadweight, steel usage and slab thickness resulting in cost-effectiveness. A maker-checker rule is used: a structural engineer comes up with the parts, and the leading institutes, like the IIT Mumbai, review them and confirm that it is safe. Construction ready drawings are only released upon approval. This makes the structures tough, flexible, and susceptible to the various climatic conditions in India.  

Also Read: Designing Drone Success: Tech, Talent & Execution

As smart cities and green housing initiatives expand, how do you see modular construction redefining India’s residential landscape over the next decade?  

Modular construction is not a concept that can be successfully adopted in a vacuum. Using technology to make the roof slabs fast to construct, but disregards the finishing does little more than accelerating one aspect of the project. The modular construction is to be combined with such allied technologies as BIM, which helps identify inconsistencies between the services and structural elements to enhance the quality and decrease the rework. Safety is also of essence, since the concept of the modular assembly entails heavy lifting. All the design and implementation are subjected to close control so that they can pertain to efficiency and safety.  

Modular construction features a great deal of reducing the carbon footprint while promoting optimal sustainability. Unity of style in module dimension has brought uniformity such that there is no form of cost variation as witnessed when its construction occurred through the conventional method. The low cost brings a reduction in the prices due to the mass production of goods, which are provided by the developers to the consumers, making it more affordable. This solution will be used to accommodate the smart cities of India and green housing ambitions in the next 10 years to develop a more sustainable, efficient, and scalable model of residential building constructions.