Chennai: Tamil Nadu govt buildings will soon be skyscrapers, as the public works department has decided to exploit the entire floor space index (FSI) during construction. All our future buildings will be 20-30 floors,” said PWD minister Aadhav Arjuna.Presenting the grants for the department on Tuesday, he said the govt buildings currently are just ground plus two or three floors. “These include all buildings, including courts. In case of necessity, there is little scope to expand the same building. As a result, the govt looks for land elsewhere. When we have a premium FSI scope, why shouldn’t we exploit it and construct the building to its fullest FSI,” he said.Most govt offices in foreign countries are skyscrapers and have all utilities. “Even on OMR, we can see a few corporate offices operating out of skyscrapers,” the minister said.The minister said PWD’s assets include hospitals, schools, and other govt buildings, but their maintenance over the years has been bad. “We are carrying out a study on the maintenance requirements for hospitals and schools. We will then seek inputs from MLAs and begin redevelopment,” he said, adding that many schools were in a precarious condition.The minister also said the govt is forming Tamil Nadu Infrastructure and Construction Corporation, a full-fledged construction company that will execute projects above ₹200 crore. “This company will participate in private construction and compete with L&T and TATA, and provide architectural plan solutions, fetching revenue for the govt,” the minister said.The govt is also launching a TN PWD app to monitor works and progress in real time. The minister said measures to improve tendering competition for PWD will be taken. A central building management system powered by AI, with the help of IIT Madras, will be executed at the Government Rajiv Gandhi General Hospital.“The system will have live records and status of fire service, building utilities, electrical work status, drinking water and sewage status, and drain works,” the minister said. “With real-time monitoring, issues will be addressed soon,” he said, adding that based on the pilot, it will be expanded to other parts of the state too.
