The Big 5 brand debuted in India with Big 5 Construct India on 2 September 2013 at the Bombay Exhibition Centre, Goregaon and had many reputed construction companies display their exhibits
The international building and construction event showcased new global products and technologies in sectors like steel, concrete, plastics & composites, ceramics & tiles, stones & marbles, pipes & fittings, paints & coatings, pumps, HVAC, water technology, window & doors and aluminum.
Organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), the Ministry of Urban Development and dmg events, 200 companies participated from countries like India, UK, Thailand, Japan, Germany, Japan, UAE, Oman, Vietnam, Singapore, France, Turkey and Australia.
International exhibitors included Emirates Steel, Duro Dyne, Al Chimica, Conares Steel, Zehnder Group and many others. The Indian companies in the expo included Jindal Stainless Steel, Tekla India, Asian Paints, Ashtech and Astral GPGC, among others.
Jasmeet Singh, deputy director of FICCI, said, ?The Big 5 Construct India would provide genuine business opportunities by placing exhibitors infront of product buyers. I am delighted that we have succeeded in putting together a show of international standards.?
A PricewaterhouseCoopers report said that India?s construction industry contributed roughly eight per cent of GDP in 2011-2012 and offered employment to 33mn people. The industry grew by 5.9 per cent in 2012-2013 as against 5.6 per cent in 2011-12, the report added.
Muhammed Kazi, exhibition manager of dmg :: events, said, ?Our exhibitors represent the finest companies in various product sectors and several of them are exhibiting for the first time in India.?
Apart from the expo, seminars were also held on various topics during the three-day event. Although most of the topics dealt with unicversal construction industry, few also spoke specifically about the Indian building industry.
V. Suresh, director of Hiranandani Group, spoke about the challenges faced by architects and developers in terms of product procurement for green buildings in India and pointed out that several of the exhibitors at the show had relevant technologies and products for green buildings.
Rumi Engineer, senior general manager of Godrej Green Building Consultancy Services, outlined the need for more certified green buildings in the country. He explained the importance of fundamentals of green building certification and benefits, stating that there is a need for more certified green buildings in the country.
Nikhil Nayak, a building information model (BIM) advocate of Tekla India, asked the industry to rapidly adopt BIM based modeling. He said, ?Time and cost overruns have been plaguing the construction industry for a very long time. With BIM based modelling we can save 30 per cent to 40 per cent of the construction costs to owners. Tekla BIM is exhaustively used for preconstruction, construction planning and site management. IT pioneers in the BIM model based approach helps steel, cast in place, PEB and construction management professionals.?
Talking about the Big 5 Construct India, he added, ?The event has a wide spectrum of exhibitors across product categories and countries, and some very enriching discussions on construction related problems.?
Mohammed Al Avari, associate vice-president of Emirates Steel, added that India is a growing market for construction and poised for exceptional growth.
Emirates Steel also announced that it was building a heavy section mill at a cost of US$850mn in UAE for the growing construction industry.
The event concluded on 4 September 2013, with almost 1,000 visitors in attendence over three days.
