The steel man of New York

When the swanky 45-storey, 1,200 ft tall new building of the New York Times comes up in downtown New York two years from now, it will have had a strong Indian hand in its making. That of Sanjeev Shelar, a structural engineer based in Aurangabad.

Shelar runs a company whose very concept is novel in the annals of Indian construction. His company -- Steel Estimating -- helps construction companies plan their on-site requirements of steel.

"Most builders still use reinforced concrete here. Abroad buildings are made largely with steel frames with other materials being used for cladding and insulation. Once the architects have completed the building design, we estimate the amount of steel that would be needed for construction," said Shelar.

Steel Estimating's services include estimations of material offtake, fabrication manhours, freight and bolt calculations, erection requirements, joist, deck and special purchasing needs, scheduling and planning and change orders.

"We tell construction companies how much material they will need on a week-to-week basis so that materials can be delivered to the site on time. We help them to plan work schedules and estimate the manhours a project will require," Shelar said.

Steel Estimating also hand holds the clients till the end of the project and helps to manage changing on-site requirements.

"Most projects grow and change organically as they progress and we help construction companies to manage the changing on-site requirements and continue to give material and manpower estimates," said Shelar.

The 18-month-old company with a 100 per cent export mandate already has a turnover of and $60 million and is working with global giants such as Honda and Toyota. Steel Estimating is managing materials offtake on the new Honda and Toyota plants in Alabama in the US.

"Honda is building a 200,000 sq ft plant where we are doing all the costing work on frameworks and time function," said Shelar.

In addition, Steel Estimating is also handling a couple of hospital projects in Texas and Arkansas.

The idea came to him when he was on a personal visit to India. "When my mother passed away two years ago, I wanted to come back to be close to my family. The clients with whom I was working at that time in the US welcomed the idea of my working out of India and I got the initial contracts with NYT. Toyota and Honda," said Shelar.

On the anvil is an Indian subsidiary which Shelar said will be set up in the next few months. "By the end of the year, I expect o be doing business in India as well, although I am not sure how much time this business will need to mature," said Shelar.