Make in India – The next manufacturing hub

The much ambitious “Make in India” program launched by our honorable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is posed to make the country the third-largest economy in the world by the year 2030. According to our PM, India has the unique 3 ‘D’s’ for businesses striving towards growth – Democracy, Demography and Demand. Being on the threshold of big industrial reforms, India exhibits amazing growth opportunities to global manufacturing firms.

The “Make in India” program endeavors to make India the manufacturing hub of the world, posing challenging to China’s dominance in the sector. India’s tech-savvy and educational workforce, skilled labor, strong legal and IPR command, and a resilient commitment to regulated liberalization opens up a bright future for companies.

India’s manufacturing domain has progressed through various chapters – from the early industrialization and the license raj to liberalization and the existing phase of universal competitiveness. In present time, Indian manufacturing companies in various sectors are focusing on global markets and are becoming challenging global contenders.

Demographic Edge:

• The country is supposed to be among the world’s top three growth economies and amongst the top three manufacturing hubs by 2020
• Advantageous demographic dividends for the next 2-3 decades
• Continued availability of skilled workforce
• Robust consumerism in the local market
• Resilient technical and engineering competencies supported by renowned scientific and technical institutes
• The manpower cost is relatively low as compared to other regions

Infrastructure

• Industrial Parks: There is an industrial part in every Indian state that can be used for setting up of industries
• National Investment & Manufacturing Zones: NIMZ is a mixture of production facilities, public utilities, logistics, residential areas and administrative services. It features a processing space, where manufacturing facilities, along with related logistics and other services and required infrastructure will be set, and a non-processing area, to take along residential, commercial and other social and institutional infrastructure
• Special Economic Zones: India has also prepared SEZs that are dedicatedly described territories treated as foreign territory for the objective of industrial, service and trade procedures, with rebates in customs duties and a more liberal system in regard to other levies, foreign investment
• Sector specific clusters: such as electronic manufacturing clusters, mega food parks etc: The government of India has been encouraging the development of sector specific industrial parks.
• Country specific zones: The country also has few specialized zones for industrial units such as example Neemrana Japanese Zone etc.
• Industrial corridors: The Government of India is developing the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) as a global manufacturing and investment destination utilizing the 1,483 km-long, high-capacity western Dedicated Railway Freight Corridor (DFC) as the backbone. The objective is to increase the share of manufacturing in the GDP of the country and to create smart sustainable cities where manufacturing will be the key economic driver.
• Other four corridors: planned include Bengaluru Mumbai Economic Corridor (BMEC); Amritsar – Kolkata Industrial Development Corridor (AKIC); Chennai Bengaluru Industrial Corridor (CBIC), East Coast Economic Corridor (ECEC) with Chennai Vizag Industrial Corridor as the first phase of the project (CVIC).

 

#PantherGoesCashless – Jindal Panther leading the way in the move to a cashless India

Since the time PM Narendra Modi announced the demonetization of India’s two largest currencies Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000, millions of people switched to cashless transactions for various purposes. From buying groceries to booking movie tickets, digital payment options have become the need of the hour everywhere. There are lots of benefits associated with digital payments as they are easy to carry out and don’t involve the use of cash at hand.

As part of center’s vision of a digital India, the country’s leading TMT Rebar brand, Jindal Panther has also taken several initiatives at various fronts. For example, the brand has launched an easy to use e-Commerce portal, where interested customers can place order for TMT Rebars and get them delivered at their given location.

Similarly, for customers who buy TMT Rebars through dealers, there are POS card machines being installed at their places so that people can pay with their Credit/Debit cards. Jindal Panther is committed to helping people build a home of their dream without worrying about cash crunch.

Another important initiative taken by Jindal Panther is to provide assistance to its channel partners that can now seek credit from nationalized banks to finance their purchase of Panther TMT Rebars.

The Role Of Steel In Construction

There is no doubt that steel has been playing a crucial role in shaping today’s world. From skyscrapers to huge dams, steel is largely being used to reinforce the construction for longevity and stability. Though steel is a preferred material among various industries, but construction is one such domain where it has its own significance. The advantages steel offers to the construction industry have long been recognized by construction designers and developers. The versatility of steel enables architects to achieve their most aspiring visions. Let’s know how and why steel has emerged out as a preferred choice of real estate developers below.

Economic Benefits

Steel products require little maintenance, thus delivering optimum value from the resources invested in the structure and reducing its whole-life costs. Long span steel sections allow large, open plan, column-free spaces to be created inside buildings, providing flexible areas that can be set out in an endless variation of configurations.

Instead of creating concrete structures, developers prefer placing steel beams and girders to save cost and time both without compromising on the safety aspect.

Structural Quality

Over a period of time, several new technologies have resulted in high standards, precision products that guarantee strength and durability in the most challenging environments. If you carefully look at today’s structures let’s say Bandra-Worli Sea Link, you will notice how steel has changed the way bridges are made and with much improved quality and durability.

Similarly, the dams being made today are far more improved and sturdier than other dams in terms of water holding capacity and channel management. Thanks to the magic of steel which paved the way for superior standards of construction. And not only in commercial construction, but steel is also the first choice of residential construction developers.

Longevity

Steel-framed structures are found to be extremely resilient and do not age or decay faster as compared to other construction materials, thus lasting longer before revamp is required. Buildings that can be easily reformed tend to dodge costly and environmentally detrimental demolition and redevelopment. Steel’s innate compliance and flexibility also means that future changes or extensions – even vertically – can be conducted with minimal disruption and cost.

Recyclability

The construction industry is being driven by market demand for sustainable materials and procedures. This is where steel construction materials meet the “green” construction needs of architects, builders, engineers, framers and roofers, highway transportation officials, bridge owners, electric utility companies, and other construction professionals with sustainable products. Steel’s sustainable benefits include its life cycle advantages, product durability, and recyclability.

Commercial Buildings: Steel tends to last long, with the superior strength-to-weight ratio of any building material.

Commercial Roofing: Metal roofs with heat-blocking coatings and surfaces can save building owners up to 40% in heating and cooling expenses.

Residential Framing: Steel construction materials are immensely recyclable. A typical 2000-square-foot home requires about 40 to 50 trees. In case of steel, just six scrapped automobiles would be required.

Residential Roofing: For homes in warmer climates, pre-painted or granular coated metal roofing systems not only reflect solar energy but also cool the home by re-emitting most of what solar radiation is absorbed.

Bridges: Newly developed steel grades provide considerable weight savings, which make steel bridges economical.

Highways: The stiff surface of constantly reinforced concrete pavement (CRCP) diminishes rolling resistance, enabling better fuel economy for motorists.

Maneuvering Management Mechanism

By – Mr Rakesh Kumar, SBU Chairman – TMT & WR

JSPL always has endeavoured to provide high quality TMT rebars for construction in India. In order to reach out to Individual home builders and provide them with superior quality TMT rebars to keep their homes safe for decades to come, JSPL has set up a pan India network of Distributors and Dealers spanning over 500 districts with 2000 dealers selling TMT under the brand Jindal PANTHER.

To keep up with the pace of demand and Government of India’s thrust for housing, JSPL has set up 1.4 Million MT bar mill at our Integrated Steel Facility in Angul, Odisha. This will double our production capacity of TMT rebars and will help us serve customers in every corner of the country.

We are constantly striving to better our value proposition for Individuals building their homes. Selling on per piece basis on fixed prices which include free home delivery and giving test certificate are some of the distinguishing features that are unique to Jindal Panther TMT bars. These are also now available online. Visit us at shop.jindalpanther.com for more details.

Get to know the modern methods of rainwater harvesting

Water is the basis of life! The rapid growth of population in recent years and the uncontrolled utilization of our natural resources have put a question mark on our ways of using water. Do you know that the average availability of usable water has correspondingly reduced from 6000 cubic meter per capita per day to 1500 to 1800 meter per capita per day?

In the last 4-5 decades, owing to our negligence and the increased greed, fresh water resources witnessed a sharp decline in their water quality and quantity. This makes it essential to conserve the ground water as it takes years to replenish. In areas where ground water is used, care must be taken to minimize the quantity of water withdrawn and bring it on per with quantity of water being replenished. And the best option emerges out in this case is Rainwater Harvesting. In our last post, we discussed about rainwater harvesting; this time we will get to know the modern methods of rainwater harvesting.

There are primarily two ways of harvesting rainwater – Surface runoff rainwater harvesting and roof top rainwater harvesting.

In simple words, it is a method of collecting rainwater and storing it for reuse, rather than allowing it to run off. This stored water can be utilized for various purposes such as gardening, irrigation etc. Let’s take a look at various way of harvesting rainwater.

1. Surface runoff harvesting – This kind of rainwater harvesting is meant for urban areas where rainwater flows away as surface runoff. This runoff could be caught and used for recharging aquifers by choosing appropriate methods.
2. Roof Top rainwater harvesting – In this type of harvesting, rainwater is collected from the roof of the house/building. It can either be stored in a tank or diverted to artificial recharge system. This method is cost effective and if implemented carefully helps in increasing the ground water level of the area.

 

There are various methods of using roof top rainwater harvesting.

 

1. Storage of direct use – In this method rain water collected from the roof of the building is diverted to a storage tank. The storage tank has to be designed according to the water requirements, rainfall and catchment availability. Each drainpipe should have mesh filter at mouth and first flush device followed by filtration system before connecting to the storage tank.

 

This is the most cost effective way of rainwater harvesting. The primary benefit of collecting and using the rainwater during rainy season is not only to save water from conventional sources, but also to save energy incurred on transportation and distribution of water at the doorstep. This also conserves groundwater, if it is being extracted to meet the demand when rains are on.

 

1. Recharging ground water aquifers – Ground water aquifers can be recharged by different kinds of structures to ensure percolation of rainwater in the ground instead of running off from the surface. The most widely used recharging methods are:

 

1. Recharging of bore wells – Rainwater collected from rooftop of the building is diverted through drainpipes to settlement or filtration tank. After settlement filtered water is diverted to bore wells to recharge deep aquifers. Abandoned bore wells can also be used for recharge.

 

2. Recharging of dug wells – In this method, rainwater from the rooftop is diverted to dug wells after filtering it. Cleaning and desalting of dug well is done on a regular basis to increase the recharge rate.

 

3. Recharge pits – These are actually small pits of any shape rectangular, square or circular, contracted with brick or stone masonry wall. The bottom of these pits is filled with filter materials.

 

4. Recharge Trenches – This option is used where upper impermeable layer of soil is shallow. A trench is excavated on the ground and refilled with porous media such as pebbles, boulder or brickbats. Bore wells can also be provided inside the trench as recharge shafts to enhance percolation.

 

5. Soak ways or Recharge Shafts – This option is feasible for conditions where the upper layer of soil is alluvial or less pervious. At the top of soak away required size sump is built to contain runoff before the filters through soak away.

 

6. Percolation Tanks – These are actually artificially created water bodies with appropriate permeability to enable adequate percolation for ground water recharging. These tanks are built in big areas where land is easily available and topography is appropriate.

Why Rainwater Harvesting is the future of water conservation?

“When the well’s dry, we know the worth of water.” – Benjamin Franklin

Did you know our country receives about 4000 billion cubic meters of rainwater from the sky? And out of which only 25% is actually used, and the rest runs off into the sea and evaporates. This quantum remains more or less relentless, though there are regional differences subject to local landforms and rock structures.

Though government has been doing all possible ways to optimize the use of rain water, but we as the proud citizens of the country should do our part of good to save water for our future generations. And the best way to move forward is to choose Rainwater Harvesting.

Rainwater harvesting is typically referred to as the gathering, or collecting and storing, of rainwater. Rainwater harvesting can be used to provide drinking water, water for livestock, and water for irrigation or to refill aquifers in a process called groundwater recharge. Rainwater collected from the roofs of houses, tents and local institutions, or from purposefully prepared areas of ground, can make a valuable contribution to drinking water.

There are a number of types of systems that can be employed to harvest rainwater ranging from simple to the complex industrial systems. Usually, rainwater is either harvested from the ground or from a roof. The rate at which water can be collected from either system depends on the overall area of the system, its efficiency, and the frequency of rainfall.

There are several advantages associated with Rainwater Harvesting such as:

• Helps you cut down on your water bills (particularly in cities where people have to buy water)
• Reduces the need of the municipal water supply
• Ensures efficient use of a valuable resource
• Eliminates soil erosion
• Prevents the contamination of ground water

Therefore, it can be easily ascertained from the above points that rainwater harvesting has become the need of the hour. Unless we get rainwater harvesting as a movement we cannot think of having a happy future and for that people have to be inspired to make this a habit.

In our next post, we will discuss about various types of Rainwater Harvesting.

How to keep your home construction under budget?

Building a home is one of the most aspirational jobs for an individual who decides to invest his/her lifetime earnings to get a home of his dreams. When it comes to decide the actual construction cost, things tend to go clumsy. It is pretty much easier to decide on the same but as far as actual construction is concerned, things are not as easy as they appear. Moreover, for people with limited income resources, this can be a really serious matter.

The best approach to determining costs for your home construction project is to consult with architects, designers and builders. Each will probably give you a different “number,” so you’ll have to drill down into the detail of what that number means. Just remember that the devil is in the details.

1. Identify the project

The first and foremost thing to do is to decide on the type of project. Will it be a new home, an addition to your existing home, a kitchen or bath remodel or some combination of these? Each has its own budgeting method. While a simple “per square foot” cost may work for a new construction project, it definitely won’t work for kitchen and bath remodels. Therefore, check what you actually want to build and then decide the ideal budget for the same.

2. Know thyself

If you just have to get that impressive range of items that costs too much, don’t budget for the standard range from the local store. Think about what you really want and how you really want to use the home you’re creating, and make sure you’ve budgeted for it.

3. Create space to splurge

Whenever preparing a home construction budget, make sure to allow for the few places where you’ll want to splurge. For example, the kitchen countertop is an element where you may want to do something really special and remarkable. If you spend a lot of time in the kitchen, the backsplash is something you’ll see several times a day for many years. Even if it costs a significant amount, allow yourself to splurge a little on something you’ll enjoy.

4. Make the foundation strong

No matter whether you go for fancy home décor or not, but your home’s foundation is something that needs to be done in a sturdy way. Always use superior quality cement, TMT rebars and bricks to ensure steady foundation throughout the years.

5. Have a contingency

Like other laws of nature, the law of a construction project is that “stuff happens.” It could be a problem with the bearing capacity of the soil or uncovering rotted wood when getting ready to build the addition. The best way to deal with the unknown is to allow for a contingency in the budget.

12 Great Ways to Keep Your Home Cool in Indian summer

Welcome to the scorching Indian summers! These are days when staying cool becomes your top priority in order to not feel energy-drenched. Though air-conditioning is like a silver bullet for summer months, but not everyone has the enough money to afford the same. On the other hand, if you choose other options such as window unit or fan, you’re more likely to develop heat-related symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, and nausea caused by heat exhaustion.

However, the good point is that there are several ways to cool down yourself without powering up the air conditioner. Let’s get to know about them.

1. User cooler light bulbs

Do you know that an incandescent bulb radiates 90% of its energy as heat? Since most homes have 30 to 35 light fixtures, your cooling system expends a lot of energy counteracting their effects. It is recommended to replace them with Energy Star-qualified compact fluorescent bulbs, which emit 75% less heat.

2. Hit the shower

This is another great way to cool down your body but don’t towel off completely. This is because anything that puts water in touch cools you down as water that evaporates stimulated sweating.

3. Drink as much you can

Here, I am talking about water. Hydration helps your body move blood to the surface more efficiently, and it allows you to sweat. You can add various flavors to make the water a bit tasty.

4. Shield your windows

About 40% of heat comes in your home through windows, particularly those facing east and west. To restrict it, curtains, shades, and blinds should thoroughly fit windows and be a light, reflective color.

5. Choose cotton bedding

Make a habit of sleeping with cotton bed sheets as it allows your body heat dissipate to the surface and sweat can evaporate.

6. Let the cool evening air in

If the outside temperature is normal during evenings, crack a few windows open to let a cool breeze come through and cool the house. Make sure you close them again before sunrise.

7. Dress appropriately

Loose-fitting, light clothing goes a long way toward keeping your body temperature low. It’s time to bust out those organic cotton shorts and tank tops!

8. Learn from your pets

How does your cat manage with the rising temperature? She snoozes! If you can squeeze in an afternoon nap, go for it.

9. Plant a tree

If it is possible, plant trees on the side of your house that gets the most sun. The extra shade will protect your home from the sun’s rays.

10. Chill out

Turn on your table fan and stick a frozen bottle of water in front of it to get some cold air circulating.

11. Insulate

To keep cool air inside, get that caulk gun and seal off anywhere that air might be escaping. A handy draft dodger can help seal up those difficult leaks at the bottoms of doors and windows.

12. Hack a fan

Try out this trick to get cool air from a fan. Fill a mixing bowl with ice like an ice pack and put it at an angle in front of a large fan; it will make the air whip off the ice at an extra-chilled, extra-misty temperature.

Building your dream home? Spend where it matters the most

Have you ever wanted to build the house of your dreams but confused on how to make the right use of funds? The path to building your dream home can be fraught with peril as there are hundreds of elements in home construction that require careful attention and it is necessary to prioritize them to build it right.

There are many homes across the globe that look exceptionally elegant but when it comes to withstand various adverse conditions, they lack flesh. Therefore, the most real beauty of a home resides inside not the outside looks. Building a home is not a thing that you would love to do again and again. You build it once, so build it right!

Your home is not just a brick-and-mortar structure but it reflects your success and status in an impressive way. Instead of spending carelessly on look and décor of your home, you should instead emphasize on strengthening its core. Below are few tips & techniques that are meant to add strength to a building.

• The foundation of your structure should rest on firm soil and it should be taken to a minimum depth of 1.2m from the ground level
• Try to avoid manual concrete mixing with minimum mixing time of 2 minutes
• Reinforcement bars form the base of a sturdy structure. Therefore, choosing TMT bars from a reputed manufacturer
• Wrongly positioned reinforcement bars are ineffective and lead to the failure of RCC elements
• Ensure that there is no congestion of reinforcement bars and that that bars have adequate concrete cover
• To ensure stability, centering should be supported at specified intervals with props that are adequately braced
• Gaps between the centering sheets should be sealed to prevent leakage of slurry, which otherwise would result in honey combed concrete.
• Please note that presence of any of the aggregates in excessive quantities adversely affects the setting, hardening, strength and durability of concrete.
• Terraces are major area of concern with regard to waterproofing. It often happens in homes that rainwater or water leaking from the overhead water tanks spoils the flooring of the terrace and even seeps through the roof of the floor underneath. Before commencing any waterproofing measure for the terrace, ensure that the structure is complete and the work on rainwater pipes and electric conduits is over.
• Washrooms and kitchens have a sunken area below the floor that houses the water pipe network. There is often a presence of water within the sunken areas, and proper waterproofing is necessary to avoid its seeping through the floor/walls and causing damage to the construction.

Nepal Earthquake – A Cause for Keeping Humanity Alive

Did you know?

• There were more than 9000 lives lost and more than 23,000 people injured during recent Nepal earthquake
• More than 450,000 people were displaced
• 5000 schools were destroyed and thousands damaged due to earthquake

These startling facts themselves proclaim the devastating story of that morning of 25^th April when a powerful earthquake of magnitude 7.8 struck Nepal. Almost everything that came in between its course was turned into rubble.  The historically and culturally enriched place was ruined into pieces in a matter of seconds. Food, water, clothing, shelter, medical aid and resumption of normal life are the various aspects that need to be addressed on an urgent basis. For all these to succeed, monetary assistance is the key factor and therefore the appeal is to act now and with all of one’s heart.

Societal commitment is at the core of Jindal Panther’s activities and implemented via a cross-functional approach. This commitment is focused around three visions –

• Education
• Population stabilization, health and nutrition
• Cleanliness

Jindal Panther is committed to stand as a pillar of support to Nepal, and the people of this Himalayan Kingdom, to ensure that smooth logistics and sufficient resources are in place. In its endeavor to support Nepal, Jindal Panther has launched a digital campaign named #ForASaferTomorrow which will ask the audience to sign petitions and join hands for a safer tomorrow.

These petitions will be then transformed into currency by Jindal Panther which will be handed over to trustworthy NGOs working towards the rehabilitation of Nepal victims. Also the money donated by Jindal Panther for this cause will be used to rebuild earthquake hit areas of Nepal with structures which are more resistant to earthquakes, so that they can provide the people of Nepal with a safer tomorrow.