By IANS
Bangalore : The construction industry in India is facing a huge shortage of manpower, especially those with skill-sets to sustain the burgeoning growth in infrastructure and housing sectors.
“Although the construction industry employs about 31 million people, second only to the agriculture sector, the workforce requirement is about five million people per year over the next 7 years to sustain the current 8 percent growth rate,” CII southern region chairman P.K. Mohapatra said here Wednesday.
With only 10 million workers available in the country every year, the construction industry will face a heavy manpower challenge, as it requires employing five million people per annum.
“If the construction industry has to grow at the current rate, it requires to add about 15 percent of the workforce every year to the existing 31 million people already engaged in the industry,” Mohapatra told about 1,000 delegates participating in the fourth edition of Excon 2007.
The fair is organised by the Indian earthmoving and construction industry association and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
Touted as the third largest ECE expo in Asia, the biannual event has attracted 280 exhibitors, including 56 overseas firms, to showcase their products and services at the venue spread over 110,000 sq metres.
About 30 companies are holding live demos of their equipment and machinery.
With international participation being the largest this time, the organisers have set up country pavilions for participants from Britain, China, Germany, Italy and South Korea.
The event has also attracted delegations from France, Japan, the Netherlands, Russia, Singapore, Spain and the US.