IIT Madras and Saint-Gobain India will establish two research laboratories focused on sustainable construction materials and digital technologies under a three-year collaboration backed by a Rs 3.8 crore grant. The initiative is intended to develop practical solutions for lower-carbon building materials, smarter infrastructure and more efficient construction in India.
The laboratories will be set up at IIT Madras’s Centre of Excellence on Technologies for Low-carbon and Lean Construction, known as TLC2. They are the Digital Real-Time Sensing Technologies for Infrastructure Laboratory, or DRSTI, and the Concrete Admixture Research for Engineering Next-generation Construction Laboratory, or CAREN.
According to the announcement, DRSTI will focus on digital technologies for infrastructure, while CAREN will work on concrete admixtures and next-generation construction materials. The two facilities will address construction-sector challenges related to productivity, material efficiency, structural durability, sustainability and digital transformation.
The partnership comes as India’s infrastructure and construction sectors face pressure to deliver projects more efficiently while reducing the environmental impact of materials and construction activity. The collaboration will focus on research areas relevant to India’s infrastructure needs and is expected to support the adoption of lighter and more sustainable construction practices.
IIT Madras director V Kamakoti said the laboratories would strengthen the institute’s ability to develop next-generation construction materials and intelligent infrastructure technologies. He said the partnership would help translate advanced research into practical solutions for the construction industry and the country.
Sreedhar N, CEO for the Asia Pacific and India region at Saint-Gobain, said the partnership would combine academic research with industrial expertise. “By bringing together academic research and industrial expertise, we can turn scientific discoveries into practical construction solutions built for India’s hot and humid climate,” he said.
Saint-Gobain said the collaboration represented a step towards accelerating the adoption of light and sustainable construction in India. The company’s statement also linked the research programme to the development of solutions suited to the country’s climatic conditions.
The three-year grant will support the establishment and operation of the two laboratories. The announcement did not provide details of specific products, pilot projects, commercialisation timelines or construction sites where the research will initially be deployed. The immediate milestone is the creation of the DRSTI and CAREN laboratories within IIT Madras’s TLC2 centre.
