Construction Chemicals International Seminar, branded C3, was held in Bengaluru on 2nd and 3rd June 2016 at Grand Venue NIMHANS and was well attended by about 400 Delegates. C3 – a unique seminar covering effective use of construction chemicals for enduring structures in the field of construction chemicals was inaugurated by distinguished Chief Guest Prof. B.R. Srinivasa Murthy, Chairman, Taskforce, Quality Assurance in Public works, Govt of Karnataka, and Raj Pillai, Executive Director of Sobha Group, was the keynote speaker.
In a glittering inaugural session, Mr Samir Surlaker, President of CCMA-Construction Chemicals Manufacturers Association, welcomed all and invited delegates to play an interactive role. Prof. B.R. Srinivasa Murthy, in his inaugural address, exposed the audience as well as CCMA members to the tremendous growth of construction chemicals in India. He expressed the need for more interaction between construction chemicals manufacturers and other professionals to solve problems in civil engineering. Raj Pillai explained the usage of Construction Chemicals in Precast Structures and invited CCMA to participate actively in the technological development. Nilotpol Kar, BASF, introduced CCMA activities and ‘three decades journey of construction chemicals, ’ and convenors Jaswanth Sobhana of BASF and Soumendra Mishra of Sika, proposed a vote of thanks.
C3 was addressed by many international speakers from Sika, BASF, MC-Bauchemie, CHRYSO, Elkem, etc. Construction Chemicals experts from National companies like Cerachem, STP, Apple Chemie, McCoy Soudal, Ardex Endura, etc., made excellent presentations. Dr Radhakrishna from IIT Chennai covered Corrosion Inhibitors. The sessions were chaired by industry experts like Dr Manmohan Kalgal- Chairman, A.T. Samuel, Umesh B. Rao, Dr Ramaprakash, Ramesh Kulkarni, and Chandramouleeswar. In all, 26 papers were presented, which really benefited the participants.
M.L.Chandrashekar,  Associate Vice President,  McCoy Soudal Sealants Adhesives & Foams Pvt. Ltd. Spoke about the ‘Benefits of Foam Application in Construction’. Expanding foam insulation is infused into the empty space to stop the air from leaking through the walls. This type of insulation has benefits over other traditional insulation. The main component of this expanding foam insulation is foam, and because of their very low density, these foams are very good insulators.
Late K.P. Pradeep, Editor-in-Chief, The Masterbuilder, Convenor with Jaswant from BASF and Soumendra from Sika were the cause of excellent management of the seminar and technical contents. The seminar was in association with the Indian Concrete Institute and the Association of Consulting Civil Engineers (India). Four guests of Honour were felicitated for their support, viz. Dr Manmohan Kalgal- President of ICI, Ajit Sabnis– President of ACCE, Jayasankar- VP (South) ICI and Mr Umesh Rao – General Secretary of ACCE. Their unstinting support made the seminar a grand success.
CCMA is now over 60 members strong association representing 80 per cent of revenue in a very short time, construction chemicals manufacturers collaborating jointly to promote the cause of spreading awareness and to focus on the right use of the right chemicals. CCMA aims at standardising and marking construction chemicals products to give confidence to end users and the construction Industry. As per feedback from end users, they will introduce training programmes to build up the skills of applicators, which is a key to the success of any waterproofing and protection systems. Five regional seminars C3R are planned next year.
Not resting on laurels. CCMA plans further seminars all over India. A Handbook on Admixtures is in the final stages of development in collaboration with the Indian Concrete Institute. Attempts are already underway to introduce the technical topics in the academic syllabi. Training programmes are in advanced stages of design. With this holistic approach, the industry is confident of growing from the present revenue of about Rs. 5000 crores to Rs. 9000 crores in the next five years. This is absolutely possible considering the large gap in demand and supply. This growth is totally dependent on the Government accepting construction chemicals as a recognised industry and backing us with incentives and rationalisation of Government taxes, duties and levies. C3 was a grand success as per feedback from participants. Next C3 is scheduled in February 2017.
