Tata BlueScope promotes smart build concept

Hyderabad: Tata Bluescope Stee is promoting the concept of ‘Smart Build’.

A 250 sq m steel-framed house will be assembled by a team of three professionals in exactly a week, said Mr Vikas Pundir, General Manager-Marketing (Building Products and Distribution) of the company.

The entire structure, including the nut and bolt, plus the assembly team and the steel tiles, are being offered out of Tata BlueScope Steel’s Chennai facility, he told Business Line here on Thursday.

The ‘Smart Build’ concept focuses on quick to install, environment friendly, and lighter structural weight offerings with colour options. It is typically fit for small cottages, homes, and farm houses among others.

Tata BlueScope, a 50:50 joint venture between Tata Steel and BlueScope Steel of Australia, launched a series of steel products for the construction sector, signalling its entry into the retail market.

Under the brand name ‘Durashine’, these colour-coated steel building products include those made for the roofing and wall. Tiles will be launched in three months, and the offering will be expanded, Mr Pundir said.

Tata BlueScope will use the distribution network of Tata Steel through the Tata Shaktee outlets to promote these products.

The products are also sourced from BlueScope’s Thailand facility.

The joint venture, however, has invested up to Rs 1,500 crore in a large plant with a capacity of 2,50,000 tonnes a year of metal coatings at Jamshedpur.

The plant will start production by the end of 2009 or early 2010, said Mr Sureet Chatterjee, Chief (Marketing & Business Development).

With plants in Pune, Bhiwadi (Haryana) and Chennai, the company is expected to log Rs 500 crore turnover this fiscal, he added.