According to the findings of the National Skill Development Corporation report, the demand for skilled employment in the construction sector arises due to demand for affordable housing which is expected to increase to 38 million from 29 million (present) by 2030. Rapid growth in IT and financial services in Tier-II and Tier-III cities, and investments in key infrastructure segments including power, road, railways, ports and civil aviation is expected to reach $1 trillion during the 12th Plan period.
Commenting on the report, Dilip Chenoy, MD, NSDC said, “Prime Minister Modi has shared his vision for building Smart Cities in India. There is a huge need that the industry has to cater to. We need manpower, proficient with excellent skills on technical abilities. The industry and the government need to lay a special focus on this segment of workforce.”
“Over the last 5 years, under NSDC, more than 5 million (cumulatively) have been trained for being skilled and more than 15, 37, 657 (cumulatively) placed,” added Mr. Chenoy.
The report also states that the construction sector is one of the largest seasonal employment providers in India next only to agriculture and is also highly unorganised, and the principle industry employing short duration out-migrants. Out of the total estimated 15.2 million short duration out-migrants, more than 36.2 per cent are employed in the construction industry alone and more than 80% of the employment in the building and construction sector is minimally skilled workforce.
The construction sector specifically is projected to grow to Rs. 11,954 billion by 2017. It is the largest contributor to the central exchequer and the second largest employer in the country. It creates more than 45 million jobs either directly or indirectly, and shortage of talent in the construction centre is a long term problem and will continue to push up project costs and risks.
The education and training capacity offered through various schemes currently are inadequate to meet the demand of the large percentage of unskilled workers in the Indian labour market. The education system is often not delivering the required number of specialists across project management, engineering, surveying, contract management and the skilled/semi-skilled labour.
Between 2000 and 2013, the sector attracted $ 40399 million as foreign direct investment. It is expected to attract $ 180 billion by 2020.
UnregisteredIn terms of employment, technicians/foremen have had the maximum growth of 95% between 2005 and 2011 followed by unskilled workforce (34%).
The report highlights the fact that only a meagre 9.8 million construction workers of the total 32 million workers are registered in the country.
Tripura, Manipur and Lakshadweep employ the highest number of registered workers in the construction sector.
The NSSO findings also underlined the fact that 97% of individuals between 15 and 65 have no exposure to any training, so the imminent need to expand the reach of training providers with models and institutes that would benefit the industry.
