In order to bridge the gap between research and development and large scale application of new building material technologies, the erstwhile Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India, had established the BUILDING MATERIALS AND TECHNOLOGY PROMOTION COUNCIL in July 1990.
There has been a demand for setting up such an apex institution in order to provide an inter-disciplinary platform to various agencies under Central and State Governments and the private sector for scaling up proven technologies to enhance their wide-spread use and for assisting commercial production as well as systematic dissemination of appropriate technology for the benefit of the construction of appropriate technology for the benefit of the construction agencies and different sections of the population.
BMTPC is mandated to promote resource-efficient, climate resilient, disaster resistant construction practices including emerging building materials and construction technologies for field level applications. BMTPC is also one of the resource institution for the Ministry to provide S&T support in the area of innovative building materials & construction technologies and disaster mitigation & management.
To realize its desired objectives, BMTPC embarks upon multi-faceted activities through networking with academic and research institutions, public & private sector, NGOs, foreign institutions for successful transfer of building materials and housing technologies in the field. Over the years, the Council has been striving to create enabling eco-system for mainstreaming innovative, cost-effective, environment-friendly and energy-efficient alternate building materials and technologies in the construction industry. In its technology development, promotion and dissemination efforts, the Council has promoted various technologies for use in housing and building construction including bamboo based housing solutions.
The Council in recent years has reoriented its approach towards promotion of not only sustainable technologies through identification, evaluation & dissemination but also propagating emerging industrialised housing systems from within the country and abroad for affordable mass housing. The Council is working towards bringing various emerging technologies, which are successful elsewhere in the world, to bring resource efficiency, economy, quality, environmental protection, speed and sustainability in housing construction. BMTPC is constructing demonstration houses in different parts of country using emerging technologies with the objective of spreading awareness and build confidence about new technologies and disseminate technical know-how in various States/UTs under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban).
In order to build capacities amongst building professionals about the new and emerging building materials and technologies for housing and building construction, the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs in collaboration with SPA, New Delhi and BMTPC, has started a NAVARITIH : Certificate Course on Innovative Construction Technologies. The NAVARITIH Course was launched by Hon’ble Prime Minister on January 1, 2020 during the foundation stone laying ceremony of six Light House Projects through video conferencing. Subsequently, first batch of NAVARITIH was inaugurated by Secretary (HUA) on 11.02.2021.
BMTPC is actively involved in disaster mitigation and management activities and working in close liaison with NDMA, NIDM and other Institutions. Apart from bringing out the first ever Vulnerability Atlas of India in 1997 and 2006, the Council brought out the third edition of its Vulnerability Atlas of India in 2019 which was released by Hon’ble Prime Minister of India. In order to educate and spread awareness about the Vulnerability Atlas of India and Disaster resistant design & construction practices, the Council organised workshops designed for engineers, architects and other stakeholders dealing with housing and infrastructure. An E-Course on Vulnerability Atlas of India was also started in association with School of Planning & Architecture, New Delhi. Besides, the Council regularly publishes valuable guidelines/ manuals on disaster resistant construction. Towards earthquake preparedness and disseminate earthquake resistant construction practices and seismic retrofitting, the Council has undertaken retrofitting of few buildings including life line buildings and organised training programmes for professionals.
The Council has also been designated as appraisal and monitoring agency under PMAY(U) for projects in various states/UTs falling in Earthquake Zone IV and Zone V. The Council is also hand holding various State Govts. and other agencies in promotion and adoption of emerging technologies for mass housing. BMTPC is also technical partner in the Global Housing Technology Challenge – India (GHTC-India), launched by the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, Government of India.
A National Urban Housing Fund (NUHF) has been created in BMTPC which is aggregating loans from lending agencies / financial institutions. Funds raised through Extra Budgetary Resources (EBR) for NUHF are being loaned to BMTPC for its further disbursement as Central assistance to State/UT Governments and as subsidy to the CNAs under the CLSS vertical of the PMAY(U). A Data Resource cum Monitoring Centre (DRMC) is also being operationalised by BMTPC under PMAY(U) for monitoring, data analysis, compilation & dissemination, generation of periodic reports in electronic form, and other related ICT activities.