India's first 3D printed house comes up at IIT-M campus

The single-storey house has a functional space comprising of a single bedroom, hall, and kitchen

India's first 3D printed house built on an area of about 600 square feet has come up at the campus of the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) here.

Constructed by Tvasta, a deep tech start-up founded by IIT-M alumni, the 'Concrete 3D Printing' technology can be a major boost to affordable construction in India as it significantly reduces, cost, time and utilises eco-friendly materials.

The single-storey house at the IIT-M campus has a functional space comprising of a single bedroom, hall, and kitchen, with the entire ensemble being designed, developed, and realised by Tvasta’s indigenous ‘Concrete 3D Printing’ technology.

Building a house through the technology takes just five days against the conventional method of four to six months. The house was developed in collaboration with Habitat for Humanity’s Terwilliger Center for Innovation in Shelter.

Inaugurating the first 3D printed house, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India definitely needs such solutions which do not require much time. Conventional housing requires timing, material, logistics, transporting of material, and so on. But if this technology can produce houses in different locales at five days per house, it would not be a big challenge to build 100 million houses by 2022,” she said.

Tvasta’s primary market would be the Indian subcontinent with the focus on providing construction-related 3D Printing services and solutions for such Government welfare programs.

“This technology is the first to be beneficiary-led in the construction industry. The machine for constructing this house can be rented, like bore wells rented by farmers. It provides for large-scale, high quality and also, price assurance for the customers,” Prof Bhaskar Ramamurthi, Director, IIT Madras, said,

Tvasta’s ‘Concrete 3D Printing’ is an automated manufacturing method for constructing three-dimensional real-life structures (at all realisable scales), the company and the institute said.

Adithya VS, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Tvasta Manufacturing Solutions, said this technology can enable deep personalisation of construction for the ultimate target segment – the individual. “3D Printing can ensure that affordable, good quality housing is available to all Indians with a technology that is built in India and symbolises Atmanirbhar Bharat,” he added.