Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (DV)
Mangaluru, Oct 20: KEF Infra, the infrastructure arm of the Singapore-based KEF holdings, will hand over India's first wholly offsite (factory) made project, a residential complex for staff and students, to Yenepoya Univesity here on Wednesday October 21.
Addressing a press meet here on Tuesday October 20, Faizal E Kottikollon, chairman of KEF Infra, said, "The new complex is a game changer in many ways as it marks many firsts for a project in India. KEF Infra's construction technology is well poised to bring speed, skill and scale for the projects that will enable greater value and impact creation. This is evident from the fact that we are able to hand over the Yenepoya residential project in a record nine months since its ground breaking.
"If the traditional method of construction were to be deployed, a project of this magnitude would have taken up to two or three years to complete. We were keen to associate with Yenepoya University as our first client, as it is a renowned center of academic excellence in Karnataka," he added.
"The project underscores our expertise in offsite construction using precast, prefabricated bathrooms, joinery, aluminum glazing and stone processing. For the first time in India the innovative graphic concrete technology from Finland was used for the facade," he said.
He further informed that the project would be handed over in a joint programme organized by Yenepoya University and KEF Infra on October 21, wherein 500 distinguished guests are expected to gather. State ministers Ramanath Rai, U T Khader, MP Nalin Kumar Kateel, MLC Ivan D' Souza, BA Group chairman B Ahmed Hajee Mohiudeen and Yenepoya University chancellor Y Abdulla Kunhi will be present on this occasion.
Shabana Faizal, vice-president of KEF Infra, Andre Dienst, general manager of KEF Infra, Dr Akhter Hussain from Yenepoya University were present at the press meet.
About the project
The project, comprising three 8-storey residential buildings covering an area of 1 lac sq ft, is India's first fully factory manufacted project. It has been completed in a record nine months, and marks the successful initiation of a game-changing offsite construction technology that helps significantly reduce the duration of construction. In comparison, conventional construction methods would have taken anywhere between 24 and 36 months to complete a project of similar size.
The complex for staff and students, comprising 96 apartments, with each floor featuring 12 two-bedroom units, was completely designed, pre-engineered and manufactured at KEF InfraOne, the state-of-the-art facility in Krishnagiri, the only plant in the world to design, pre-engineer and manufacture every element of a building, which include wall panels, hollow core slabs, bathrooms, facades, windows, doors etc - at a single location.
The 208 bathrooms in the project were fully prefabricated, inclusive of all mechanical electrical and plumbing (MEP), sanitary ware, tiling and fittings, in KEF InfraOne and transported 850 km to the project site in Mangaluru.