Silicon Valley start-up Katerra, in which SoftBank has invested $865 million, plans to expand its business in India and West Asia.
Ash Bhardwaj, President of Katerra in Asia and the Middle East, said that with housing as a focus area of the Indian government, Katerra has developed a project whereby houses can be built in 48 hours with the help of concrete offsite technology.
It recently showcased its technology to the Saudi Housing Ministry.
In India, Katerra recently acquired KEF Infra, a leader in offsite manufacturing and pre-cast.
On the visit of the Saudi Crown Prince and the Indo-Saudi Business Meet, Bhardwaj said that both India and Saudi Arabia have a similar problem of providing affordable housing for the masses.
Urban India is short of about 10 million housing units, particularly among the economically challenged sections of the society, while 53 per cent of the Saudi population do not own houses. Technology-first construction model and processes such as the DfMA (Design for Manufacturing and Assembly) followed can provide sustainable solutions and simplify elements of construction by manufacturing offsite and assembling onsite, thereby balancing cost, quality and performance.
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