Instant erection: Indian builder erects 10-storey tower in two days

Entrepreneur Harpal Singh stands in front of the building in Mohali, Punjab, India his company constructed in record time. Submitted photo/YouTube

Chandigarh, Jan 27 (IANS) At 46, Harpal Singh is a successful first generation entrepreneur. But that is not his only achievement. His company is now a record holder in erecting a fully-functional 10-floor building in just 48 hours. And there is no stopping him.

He is now aiming at making a livable house in just 20 hours.

On Dec. 1 last year, Harpal Singh’s infrastructure company, Synergy Thrislington, delivered its promise of completing the 10-storeyed ready-to-use building in Punjab’s Mohali town, 10 km from here. The entire building, the material for which was pre-fabricated at his factories, was assembled at the site.

“The idea to construct buildings with a timeline came from my own experience of constructing a house in Chandigarh. It took me over two years to complete that. I had to run after all sorts of people (labour, skilled workers, suppliers and others) to get things executed. It was a major headache,” Harpal Singh told IANS in an interview.

“During the construction, I found that things were coming from the factory and shops to my site. So I thought why can’t the building be at the factory itself and then things are brought and installed at the site. This was a challenge for me and I took it up,” Singh said.

He said that 70 per cent of the 10-floor building was pre-fabricated at his factories.

“The building uses a lot of technology, especially the concept of insulation and saving energy. We have used PUF (physical unclonable function) in the building and a lot of thinking has gone into reducing pollution, getting effective cooling, retaining heat (in winter) and proper usage of sunlight,” he pointed out.

Son of an Indian Air Force pilot, Singh had a modest upbringing, cycling his way in the mid-1980s to an evening college to attend his Bachelor of Science classes even while he was studying during the day at the Indo-Swiss training centre here to hone his technical skills.

While he was in his first job at a Punjab government enterprise, he got the opportunity to make precision equipment. Getting on to an unreserved compartment of a train to Bombay (now Mumbai) with just a few dollars in his pocket, Singh took his first step towards entrepreneurship. Today, he is not only a successful entrepreneur but also owns the JW Marriot Hotel in Chandigarh.

“For me, it’s not whether something is possible or impossible. Even in impossible, I see ‘I-M-Possible,’” he said.

The 10-floor building, called Instacon, was certified by the Limca Book of Records for being completed in just 48 hours.

“This is the first building of its kind in the country to be built in just 48 hours. The model has been cleared for Zone-V seismic areas (the highest risk area for earthquakes),” Singh said.

Over 200 skilled workers, technicians, engineers and equipment were engaged in the building’s construction.

“No bricks or sand was used. The outer wall is a double-skinned PUF panel. The cost is almost the same as of conventional construction material. It saves a lot of time that goes into construction otherwise,” Singh said.

The ambitious entrepreneur now has his sights set on the construction of a house in less than 20 hours.

“India has a big shortage of houses. We can provide a solution to that,” he said.

Singh’s company, Synergy, took over Britain-based Thrislington Products, a re-locatable steel partition manufacturer, to set up its infrastructure company here.