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Singapore in drive to export modern construction to India

Singapore’s productivity-focussed Building and Construction Authority (BCA) will lead a delegation of around 30 companies to the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh to offer expertise in modern construction methods and to seek work for Singaporean firms.

The city state’s construction regulator, BCA is several years into a drive to promote prefabrication in the Singaporean construction industry.

Now, it wants Singaporean firms to export that expertise to Andhra Pradesh, where authorities are mulling new business parks, or "economic cities".

Companies in the delegation include contractors, consultants, material suppliers, IT firms, and trading and investment firms, the BCA said.

This latest mission builds on existing ties between Singapore’s construction industry and the Indian state.

For instance, a consortium of Singaporean construction firms is now finalising a deal with Andhra Pradesh developers worth $44m (S$60m) to design and build a textile park, according to BCA.

Elsewhere, Singaporean builders Tiong Seng and CKR are in talks with developers there to provide prefabrication construction methods.

Further back, Singapore has been involved in helping Andhra Pradesh build its Capital City Amaravati since 2014.

"There are ample opportunities in Andhra Pradesh for Singapore enterprises at this phase of city building," said Tiong Seng’s chief executive Pek Lian Guan.

The BCA has also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Andhra Pradesh Real Estate Regulatory Authority (Aprera) to help it build "vibrant and productive real estate and built environment industry" in the state.

That MoU sees the BCA giving three-day briefings to Andhra Pradesh officials on productivity-enhancing techniques, including electronic project approvals, quality assessment schemes, green building, and prefabrication.

"With Aprera driving quality and on-time delivery of real estate projects in Andhra Pradesh, Singapore firms will be able to value-add to these efforts as they have built up expertise and experience in these knowledge areas," said BCA’s chief executive Hugh Lim.

"This is also in line with our Construction Industry Transformation Map to facilitate local firms to venture overseas," he added.

Image: Early phase construction on Marina Bay Financial Centre, Singapore, one of builder and property firm Tiong Seng’s projects (Tiong Seng)

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