UltraTech Cement, an Aditya Birla Group company, has invited architects, experts and bright talent from the student community in the engineering and architectural sectors to register for the fifth edition of its IndiaNext initiative.

Solutions for infrastructure challenges

It is a collaborative and forward-thinking platform to harnesses ideas and expertise of practising engineers, architects and the brightest students from the engineering and architecture sector in a collaborative setting to bring forth solutions to some of the country’s greatest infrastructure challenges.

The theme of this year’s IndiaNext initiative is ‘Build with Speed’, in which India’s talent mix of engineers, architects and designers will compete to choose a project from an urban or rural context and propose an innovative design to create an impact and help India achieve its Sustainable Development Goals.

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The initiative aims at developing home designs, aided with latest technologies, processes and materials, that can recraft India’s growth story. The theme challenges participants to take up the ambitious challenge of fulfilling the nation’s housing development priorities, in a time-bound approach.

Participants choosing the urban context, will focus on development of housing solutions aimed at rehabilitation of migrant workers or slum-based population.

Those who choose the rural context, will focus on developing housing solutions tailored for the homeless population or migrant labour residing in villages. Entries under the rural context may also look at mass low-cost housing for communities likely to benefit from government schemes such as the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana - Gramin.

All entries this year will be accepted online and will be evaluated by an expert panel of architects across a wide array of parameters which will include speed of construction, creativity and innovation, longevity of the project, technology and materials used, scalability and overall impact which has been created.

The last day of submission of entries is next January 31.