An exclusive seminar on
“innovative & best practices in the construction industry”
 
Innovative use of steel in construction, creating energy efficient green buildings with the use of earthly materials, using quality materials to maintain safety and stability of structures and implementation of global practices and technologies will enable the construction industry in India to meet the challenges of rapid growth, leading panelists from the industry said here on Saturday night. 
 
They were participating at an exclusive seminar on “innovative & best practices in the construction industry to manage the next phase of growth,” organized by Sujana Metal Products Limited, part of the Rs 3,000 crore Sujana Group, in association with The Economic Times at ITC Kakatiya. The seminar was attended by an august gathering of structural engineers, architects and builders from turnkey construction companies.
 
The distinguished panelists included Mr A K Mishra, Chief Operating Officer, Tata Projects; Mr D Gnanasekar: Joint General Manager, L&T (ECC Division); Mr B K Passi, Managing Director, Everon Consultancy; Mr Ravi Kiran, Chief Operating Officer, SHL Ventures and Mr R K Birla, Managing Director, Sujana Metal Products Limited. Mr Ramakrishna Pachigolla, Associate Director, PwC was the moderator. Mr VSR Murthy, Group Director, Sujana Group, welcomed.
 
The construction industry, they pointed out, accounted for around one-tenth of the world’s Gross Domestic Product, seven percent of employment, half of all resource usage and up to 40 percent of energy consumption. This industry has a profound impact on our daily lives.
 
In India, construction industry is the second largest after agriculture. It makes a significant contribution to the national economy and provides employment to large number of people. The use of various new technologies and deployment of project management strategies has made it possible to undertake projects of mega scale. In its path of advancement, the industry has to overcome a number of challenges.
 
However, the industry is still faced with some major challenges, including housing, disaster resistant construction, water management and mass transportation. Recent experiences of several new mega-projects are clear indicators that the industry is poised for a bright future. It is the second homecoming of the civil engineering profession to the forefront amongst all professions in the country.
 
Presently, the annual expenditure budget of India is Rs. 4,38,795 crores against the backdrop of the total Gross National Product (GNP) of the country of about Rs 22,00,000 crores or more. Over the years, more than half of the expenditure budget is spent on civil engineering works. The construction industry sets in motion the process of economic growth in the country. Investment in this sector contributes 6.5 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth. Statistics over the period have shown that compared to other sectors, this sector of economic activity generally creates 4.7 times increase in incomes and 7.76 times increase in employment generation potentiality.
 
Sustained efforts by the Indian construction industry and the Planning Commission have led to assigning the industry status to construction today. This means formal planning and above board financial planning will be the obvious destination of the construction sector in the country, with over 3.1 crore persons employed in it. In the recent times, India has stepped up its development agenda. One explicit indicator of this is the aggressive pace of construction activity in the country.
 
The economists and development analysts believe that if the current national level initiatives are consistently supported along with a few new initiatives in the areas of education, health and labour, this country will be in the driving seat and on a one-way street of growth. The particular emphasis on infrastructure development will put India on a road map with Brazil, China and Russia towards becoming a developed nation by 2050.
 
A recent study by the Mc Kinsey identifies four of the five trends as growth opportunities: Investments of $750 billion in infrastructure development, increasing dominance of price- and value-focused customers, deeper engagement of global equipment manufacturers in India and increasing opportunities for exports. (eom)
 
About Sujana Metal Products Limited
Incorporated in 1988, Sujana Metal Products Ltd is known for its trend-setting TMT, structural steels. SMPL manufactures the widest range of user-friendly construction steel products of quality and reliability, thereby providing customer satisfaction. SMPL, with ISO 9001:2000 certification for manufacture and supply of structural and alloy steel sections, is a leading company in South India. Its products are known for their strength, resistance to heat & corrosion and excellent weld-ability.