KEF Infra One: Revolutionising the construction industry

Anishaa Kumar

Dubai-headquartered KEF Holdings has opened the doors to KEF Infra One in Krishnagiri. Founded in 2014 by industrialist Faizal E Kottikollon, with an aim to revolutionise the infrastructure sector, KEF Infra One is an initiative by the four-year-old Bangalore-based KEF Infra, a subsidy of KEF Holdings. Located in Krishnagiri, Tamilnadu, this newly launched 42-acres, off-site manufacturing site has 10 units under one roof including units for precast, prefabricated bathrooms, modular rooms and modular MEP, a joinery, glazing and a stone processing unit.

Dubbing this innovative set up to be the “Forefront to Industry 4.0”, through the facility, KEF hopes to speed up conventional building methods by almost 50% at the automated unit by employing robotics, computer aided design and computer aided manufacturing. At the park, the complete components for the building -from columns to windows to even woodwork and furniture/upholstery can be manufactured, transferred to the location and set up on site, reducing dependence on imports and labour and time intensive construction measures. Fully functional, the unit is expected to have at least 1,000 employees.

Currently the company has 8 live projects with two more expected to start work soon. This includes a 1.5 million sq. feet office with multi-level car park for Embassy Group in Bangalore. The group has bagged a prestigious project with Infosys for building a 700,000-sq. ft. office park including a multi-level car park in Electronic City Phase 2. In 2017, they are also expected to start work two other projects for Infosys at their Mysore campus: one is an arched entrance gate and the other is the world’s largest clock tower standing at 135 meters designed by Hafeez Contractor. Structures for all these projects will be pre-cast at the Krishnagiri facility and will be assembled on site.

KEF Infra has till date invested about Rs.440 crores at the Krishnagiri site. The model they say is profitable. CEO of KEF Infra, Sumesh Sachar while speaking to The Dollar Business stated that the revenues through FY 2017 will be Rs.635 crores which is 6 × the revenue growth from previous years. In the year 2017-2018 they are looking at revenues up to Rs.1,730 crores. The group is hoping to expand their reach by exporting these components around the world. The first experiment in this direction is underway as the Krishnagiri site is producing components for a Modular Glass House being built for Revolution Precrafted. The project is based on designs by renowned architect Philip Johnson and will be unveiled in New York in 2017.

Headquartered in Bengaluru, KEF holdings deals in sectors such as healthcare, IT and business parks, education, commercial and residential properties. Through KEF Infra One, the company hopes to contribute to the development of infrastructure in these sectors which according to Faizal E Kottikollon is “one of the biggest concerns that these sectors face in India.” KEF Infra is working on providing infrastructure to the villages in and around the facility in the form of school buildings and houses as well as provide technical and life skills.