Flooring company signs big Indian deal

The Speedfloor system can be seen in this building on Auckland's North Shore. Photo / Supplied

A local company has secured a multi-million dollar deal with one of India's biggest corporations that will see its flooring technology used to construct staff housing at massive steel plants.

Auckland's Speedfloor has licensed Delhi-based, Mumbai-listed Jindal Steel & Power the exclusive rights to manufacture its flooring system in India.

The system uses light, roll-formed steel joists.

Concrete is poured between the joists on to plywood, which is removed after the concrete has set.

Speedfloor managing director Graeme Stubbing said Howick Engineering, which owns a 50 per cent stake in the firm, will also supply a roll-forming machine to the Indian company.

The deal was worth more than $2 million, he said.

The Indian company also had the rights to sell the Speedfloor system to other firms within India, he said.

Stubbing said the technology would be used to construct housing for workers at a new steel and electricity plant in the state of Orissa, which would employ around 30,000 staff.

"They're basically building a city - it's going to have schools, shopping centres and things like that," Stubbing said.

He said Jindal Steel & Power, which had an annual revenue of more than US$3 billion ($3.6 billion), would also use the Speedfloor system at another plant being constructed in Raigarh.

Another arm of the company, called Jindal Urban Design, would use the technology to build apartment blocks in "satellite cities" around India's major centres, he added.

"Speedfloor technology ... means the building goes up very quickly and the lightweight steel joist can be installed without delays in curing times for concrete and things like that."

Locally, Speedfloor has been used to construct buildings including the Auckland Hospital carpark.

Stubbing said Speedfloor's future lay in emerging markets and the firm had been fielding inquires from Turkey and Qatar.