Subash Arunachalam, Associate General Manager, Ihita Engineering Services advises builders, contractors and vendors to leverage the current market scenario & procure the materials.

What is your strategy to expand business for existing product range?
The only strategy that we have followed in Ihita is to answer and provide a solution for the market requirement by understanding what is needed & forecasting what will be needed. At Ihita we always try to provide a solution to the most asked questions on site. We come up with new products which are either

• More safe
• Cost efficient
• Will increase the overall standard of the construction industry.

Looking at the present scenario what would you advise for procurement of new range of products? Buy it or rent it, why do you say so?
Being a formwork supplier, we suggest builders, contractors and vendors to leverage the current market scenario & procure the materials. The market will soon boom and the demand will increase and when such a time comes it will be beneficial for the purchasers. Also buying will increase your company’s asset value and will make it look better on paper. This will also help the market recover at a faster pace.

What are your expectations from the industry to capitalise the present market?
Our expectation from the Industry is to increase the usage of products; systems that will help keep the overall cost down and invest in developing the same. Thus more operating capital will be available for the firms to function without any difficulty. All the measures taken for development in this regard will act as an additional factor of benefit and will continue to yield positive results in the going years.

How are you acclimatising to the fluctuations in material prices?
We have always had a good relationship and constant support from all our suppliers. That has been one major factor for our growth in the past years. This has helped us reduce & hedge the market fluctuation to a large extent. However major changes will affect any organisation, but forecasting of the same and being prepared based on your project requirement will help reduce the impact.

With the emerging preference for organised construction methods, how do you see the formwork model developing in India?
The preference and change in mindset of major builders & contractors is a positive note for the industry. It will elevate the entire construction industry to global benchmarks and more safer practices, once every builder begins to adopt it.

According to you, what are the drivers of demand in scaffolding & formwork segment?
One of the major drivers of the demand in formwork segment is the acceptance of new and improved systems, due to the search of Builders & contractors to:

• Increase safety standards of the site
• Increase speed and standard of construction
• Achieve proper planning and scheduling of the entire project

What is your company’s outlook for 2022?
We look forward to having a diverse line of improved products and to be serving in more countries than now. We are in constant efforts to increase our global presence and hopefully in 2022 we will be focusing on more than one Industry.

Subash Arunachalam, Associate General Manager,
Ihita Engineering Services