Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said that innovative technologies in construction such as 3D printed houses, which are fast to build and scalable, can help the government to fulfill its promise of providing housing to all by 2025.

She addressing a virtual event where she inaugurated India’s first 3D printed house at the IIT Madras Campus built by Tvasta, a start-up founded by 2016 batch IIT-M alumni Adithya Jain, C Vidyashankar & Parivarthan Reddy.

“We have a huge challenge before us in meeting the deadline. There are government incentives available but conventional housing is time consuming,” Sitharaman said, adding, “If these houses can be built in a short time, I am sure India is set for a bright future in terms of meeting its target of building affordable houses. We need rapid, in situ and scalable models which is what you have shown today.”

3D Printing, commonly known as additive manufacturing, is the computer-controlled sequential layering of materials to create three-dimensional shapes. From automobile to jewellery to healthcare, the technology is used in a wide range of industries.

“We are able to build an affordable house in about three days and a toilet module in about 6 hours. This can aid both the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) and Swachh Bharat Mission that the government has. We already have 3D printed toilets that are deployed elsewhere in Chennai,” said Adithya Jain, co-founder, Tvasta. Typically, a 3D Printed house will be 20-30 per cent cheaper than conventional construction, he added.

“Our company’s mission is to make housing, the very basic requirement for individuals, affordable for all. India requires 10 crore houses to be built by 2030 and this simply cannot be delivered without new methods of construction and that is what we are here to deliver,” he added.

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