Sithraman unveils first Indian 3D printed house at IIT-Madras

On Tuesday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman virtually unveiled India's first 3D printed house at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras. Tvasta Manufacturing Solutions, a startup founded by IIT Madras alumni and part of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs' (MoHUA) new ASHA incubator at IIT Madras, are responsible for constructing the building.

Tvasta was founded by 2016 batch IIT-M alumni Adithya Jain, C Vidyashankar & Parivarthan Reddy.

The Finance Minister praised IIT Madras for fostering creativity and taking new innovations and ideas to fruition. She said that the nation requires“such solutions which do not require much time”to accomplish Prime Minister’s goal of ‘Housing for All by 2022’. She pointed out, “A huge challenge of meeting that deadline and making sure that people who need houses get it at an affordable price. The Government incentives for that are available.”

Smt @nsitharaman inaugurates India's First 3D Printed House at @iitmadras campus in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, via video conference. pic.twitter.com/0myYvpGryF

— NSitharamanOffice (@nsitharamanoffc) April 27, 2021

According to the institute, the 600 sq ft single-story house was built using indigenous concrete 3D printing technologies in partnership with Habitat for Humanity's Terwilliger Center for Innovation in Shelter. A house can be built in five days using this technology.

Sitharaman lauded Tvasta, calling it an Atmanirbhar product, she praised the short amount of time it takes for the 3D printed house to be completed. She said, “The presentation made earlier by Tvasta tells me everything is Atma Nirbhar. From the idea till the furnished house, even the design is all from India. India needs more of this.” She further exclaimed, “It is all Indian, it is amazing. It is the young mind which is delivering this and India needs more of this.

Concrete 3D printing, developed by Tvasta is an advanced manufacturing process for creating three-dimensional real-life structures. The method employs a concrete 3D printer that receives a user-supplied computerised three-dimensional design file and assembles a three-dimensional structure layer by layer by shaping a specialised form of concrete specially designed for the task.

Speaking about the vision of Tvasta, Adithya explained, “This technology can enable deep personalization 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 symbolizes Atmaribhar Bharat.”