Pune, Sept. 11: Pre-engineered steel buildings might sound bizarre, but the concept is here to stay. Soon leading tech colleges in the country might offer courses on the nitty-gritty of the pre-engineered buildings.

Tata BlueScope Steel Limited, which is in the process of making inroads into the concept of steel designs and pre-engineered steel buildings in the country, is keen on spreading the concept to educational institutions to create a talent pool in this field.

According to the managing director of Tata BlueScope, Chetan Tolia, talks are in progress with various engineering colleges across the country.

He is also keen on targeting architecture colleges and the polytechnics. Senior executives from his company could be the guest lecturers at these institutes.

Tolia said parleys were held with some engineering colleges in Pune and the structural engineering department of IIT, Chennai.

Even as no final commitments had been made yet, Tolia said, he was optimistic that something concrete would materialise soon.

Last month, Tata BlueScope Steel Ltd, a 50:50 joint venture of Tata Steel and Australia’s BlueScope Steel Ltd, formally began its operations with a pre-engineered building facility near the IT Park at Hinjewadi, Pune.

The new facility will manufacture, design and supply a range of BUTLER pre-engineered buildings and LYSAGH steel building solutions.

The operation in Pune will serve the burgeoning western region, while the Sriperumbudur (Chennai) and Bhiwadi (Rajasthan) operations, both under construction, will serve India’s growth territories in the south and north respectively.

A metallic coating and painting facility at Jamshedpur is in the pipeline with an annual metallic coating capacity of 2,50,000 tonnes and paint line capacity of 1,50,000 tonnes.