A consensus for joint funding among centre and states may not be difficult specially for welfare schemes related to public health, transportation, housing schemes etc. says Manoj Nainani, Executive Director – Infrastructure (Water, Ports, Urban & Energy), Specialised Engineering, Egis India.

What will be the new state of affair after 2020 for the construction and infrastructure sector?
Social distancing is here to stay. So we will see airports, railway stations and other places of mass gatherings will continue to have inbuilt mechanisms for social distancing. A lot of processes will go virtual and contact less – like check-ins at airports, toll payments etc.

I see Covid-19 as an opportunity; though Covid-19 is a huge problem for everyone in general. Covid-19 will help us get more opportunities which were not much in focus until now. I see a lot of opportunities in the healthcare sector, which I am sure is going to continue much more. So, a lot of new hospitals, a lot of new facilities, medical colleges etc would be built. There is an immediate opportunity of 25 new hospitals which the government has announced, (the total number is very large), that’s one opportunity we are keenly looking at. During the pandemic, government has reduced interest rates to help the construction industry recover from the effect of reverse migration of workforce and disruption of steel and cement supply chain. Lowering of the interest rate will be good for the sector as loans will become cheaper, leading to an increased investment. Also, to add better connectivity like highways, railways and airports connecting all hospitals and medical facilities is a must to better the healthcare infrastructure in India.

I think the focus of the government is increasing on infrastructure every year. This government is extremely bullish on infrastructure and I feel the focus is moving towards the right direction. Earlier, government had more focus on programmes like Swachh Bharat, this time it is more on water.

Given the financial constraints, what will be an appropriate partnership model for delivery and funding of infrastructure projects?
Criticality and urgency of boosting infrastructure in India cannot be over-emphasized. One of the biggest challenges on infrastructure development is in terms of financing it. Since most of the major investments in infrastructure is government funded, the trend is likely to continue in the future as well. 

In my opinion, infrastructure development schemes can be jointly funded by the centre and states together. In my view, a consensus for joint funding among centre and stated may not be difficult specially for welfare schemes related to public health, transportation, housing schemes etc.

The draining economy is unlikely to create private funds flowing into the sector. However, areas could be identified, where countries, which are specialists in certain kind of manufacturing be encouraged to invest not just in creating the factories but also the infrastructure surrounding the area through the financial institutions representing the countries. For example, if an area is chosen for mobile development, then countries like Korea could be encouraged to invest in these areas as many companies from this country stand to benefit from it. The other could be in the form of loans from finance institutions.

What kind of infrastructure upgrade initiatives should the government focus on to ensure the construction sector remains in robust health?
There are two kinds of infrastructure broadly – one that boosts investments and the other that boosts consumption & well-being. To boost investments, the government needs to develop airports, rail & roads infrastructure, ports etc. The infrastructure that boosts consumption and well-being are water projects, smart cities, projects like Statue of Unity that boosts tourism, Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana etc. The government needs to focus on both the kinds of projects as both are independent and interdependent at the same time.  

How will the pandemic catalyse the adoption of VR/AR tools, remote monitoring, data analytics to have a real-time view of ongoing projects?
Since social distancing and remote working through digitisation has become a norm during the pandemic, it will only propel companies to invest more resources in developing these tools that enable clients the ease of seeing live updates on projects sitting at their desks and tools. Tools that help in optimising resources by developing digital models before the actual construction starts will also witness an increase in use. Tools like these were already operational but post Covid-19 era, we will see more and more companies using them.

What kind of digital roadmap should be designed to help in overcoming operational challenges in executing projects while also delivering competitive advantage? More and more operations will be digitised in the coming times. There are a number of processes which can be addressed without physical presence or contact. So, all processes have a potential to go digital and be operated in an access, assess apply from anywhere model. It will help the customers play a more integral role in the whole process. 

BIM as a digital information approach is rapidly improving the delivery of infrastructure projects thereby reducing financial losses during construction. As project managers, we are using BIM to our advantage as a reliable source for enhanced decisionmaking for our clients.

What kind of transformation do you expect to see in the pattern of procurement in the post-Covid era for equipment and structure solutions for projects?
Post Covid-19 era, as mentioned above, there is a possibility of more and more processes going digital. Accordingly, the equipment and structure solutions of projects will need to accommodate the digital needs and be digital compatible. This might replace some systems and add some.