Indian real estate faces huge skills deficit

Indian urban population are growing at a fast pace and the rapid process of urban development mesna more houses will be required to accommodate the people in near future.

In fact, development activity in India is at an all time high and with over 600 million people expected to live Indian cities by 2030, a shift in focus to urban areas means potential demand for quality real estate and extensive supporting infrastructure services in urban areas.

But with real estate being the second largest employer in the country, the sector continues to be characterized by lack of regulation, transparency and a high degree of fragmentation. The area faces many challenges such as financial and liquidity constraints, loopholes in contract procurement and processing mechanisms, cost overruns, antiquated laws and policies, lack of enforcement and implementation of reforms to name a few.

These factors have stood on the way of providing quality and better houses to the people.

The sector also lacks quality talent, which stems from the absence of specialized real estate education, resulting in the absence of much needed fresh skilled manpower entering the sector. According to a recent study, the demand-supply gap in the realty sector will be 44 million core professionals by 2020.

Of the 50 million people employed in real estate, construction and infrastructure, only 2 million are professionally qualified, while the remaining are unskilled and semi-skilled workers.

The current crop of core professionals in the real estate sector comprises architects, engineers and planners.