Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore (FACT), partner in a joint venture to manufacture fibre-glass-reinforced, load-bearing phospho-gypsum panels, has decided in principle to launch a marketing-cum-service wing for the new project considering the immense potential of the product in the affordable housing market.
Phospho-gypsum panels have the capacity to revolutionize the building industry, especially in a State that has traditionally relied on scarce raw materials for construction, river sand being an example.
These panels can be used to build walls and roofs without brick and cement. They are eco-friendly, weather-resistant, cuts building cost by 25 per cent and reduces construction time by 50 per cent.
A 12x3-metre gypsum panel can substitute a lorry-load of bricks.
Besides, the wall will not require plastering as the superior finish of the panel allows for direct coating of primer and then painting.
As the panels are corrosion-resistant they will be immensely suited to coastal regions.
The cavities in the panels can be filled with cement concrete to enhance their strength.
A marketing-cum-service wing will be essential for the joint venture until people get accustomed to using the new material in building houses or even bigger complexes.
Telling the buyers how to use these panels and developing a group of local experts in using them are essential to the success of the product.
The process of using these panels will have to be taught initially to ensure that the technology spreads rapidly in the State.
The joint venture, called Rapid Wall, has been forged among FACT, Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers Limited (RCF), Mumbai, and Rapid Building Systems of Australia.
Considering the vast reserve of gypsum available with FACT, raw material will be cheap and assured.
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