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News & insights

Notes from the plant and the site.

Short technical and editorial pieces on materials, concrete technology and infrastructure delivery — written by the group's operating teams. Company announcements are published here once approved.

Articles
4
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Materials · Engineering · Group
Materials12 September 20266 min read

What GGBS actually changes in a concrete mix

Lower heat of hydration, slower early strength, better long-term performance. A practical look at where GGBS earns its place — and where it needs a different mix strategy.

Ground granulated blast furnace slag is a by-product of iron manufacturing, ground to a fineness that lets it react with water in the presence of cement. Used as a partial replacement for cement, it changes the chemistry of the mix rather than simply diluting it.

The most immediate effect is thermal. GGBS reduces the heat released during hydration, which matters most in mass pours — rafts, thick slabs and foundations — where temperature differentials drive early-age cracking.

The trade-off is pace. Early strength gain is slower, which shifts striking times and programme assumptions. The practical answer is rarely to avoid GGBS, but to design the mix and the pour sequence around it.

Editorial · technical note

Engineering28 August 20265 min read

Self-compacting concrete: the site conditions that decide it

SCC solves placement problems that vibration cannot. Here is where it pays for itself, and the detailing discipline it demands in return.

Self-compacting concrete flows under its own weight. In heavily reinforced sections, that means complete encasement of steel without mechanical vibration — and a fair-faced finish that needs little repair.

The constraint is the formwork. Higher fluid pressure demands tighter shutter design and better joint discipline. A mix that flows beautifully can also find every gap in a poorly built form.

On the right detail, SCC reduces labour, noise and rework. On the wrong one, it simply relocates the problem from the pour to the finish.

Infrastructure09 August 20267 min read

Why data centres ask more of concrete than most buildings

Flatness tolerances, mass pours and continuous placement — the three demands that separate a data centre slab from a conventional commercial floor.

A data centre slab is a precision surface. Rack layouts, containment and raised-floor systems all inherit the tolerance of what sits beneath them, which pushes slab flatness requirements well beyond typical commercial work.

The pours are also large and continuous. Mass concrete generates heat that must be managed in real time, and stopping a pour midway creates a cold joint that no finish can hide.

That combination is why temperature-controlled mix design and dispatch sequencing are engineering decisions on these projects, not logistics details.

Group21 July 20264 min read

The case for a vertically integrated building group

When the same group quarries the aggregate, batches the concrete, builds the structure and manages the stay, accountability stops moving between contracts.

Most construction problems are handover problems. Material arrives that does not match the mix design; the mix does not match the structural requirement; the structure does not match the finish specification. Each handover is a place where responsibility can thin out.

Vertical integration does not remove those interfaces — it internalises them. The same quality system covers the aggregate, the concrete and the pour.

That is the structure Pusapati Group is building across its four engines: materials, trade, real estate and, from FY2031–32, digital infrastructure.