Imagine the opportunity

500 million urban population by 2020

8.7 billion sq ft to be built every year! In other words, India needs to build a city like Chicago every year

$253 billion built environment sector – growing at cumulative growth rate of 19%

$1 trillion investment in infrastructure planned in next 5 years

9th largest construction market in the world to become the 3rd largest by 2020

The magnitude of growth requires proper infrastructure including hospitals, schools, colleges, government buildings and residential settlements.

The mammoth task requires huge manpower within the built environment, which comprises of real estate, infrastructure and construction.

The challenge

There is a demand-supply gap in the range of 82-86% in the built environment professionals. For example – only 27,000 civil engineers passing out every year against potential requirement of ~4 million.

Minister for Urban Development, Shri Kamal Nath recently commented on the real challenge that the built environment is facing. He said, “The challenge that India faces in urban development is not that of a fiscal deficit but a skills deficit.” It means a huge career opportunity for those who choose to be a part of this growth and get specialised education in the sector.

The population being added to our cities is generating unprecedented demand for quality real estate and infrastructure e.g. construction of the built environment – houses, commercial spaces, health infrastructure etc. Government is investing heavily in building infrastructure in the country over 2012-17 – all this will mean higher demand for jobs in the fields of land, real estate, property finance, fund management, construction and cost management, surveying and facilities management etc. There is nearly 80% shortage of skilled professionals for this sector.

Getting organized

Over the past few years the influx of foreign real estate and construction companies, multi-national occupiers as well as opening up of foreign direct investments (FDI), have injected more professionalism in the real estate and construction sectors than a few decades ago. Industry needs specialized professionals.

Education in this field – by the industry, for the industry

To fill this vacuum, RICS School of Built Environment has been established as a specialized school within Amity University, Noida campus. The School is a result of the industry’s crying need for professionals that are much needed in India to be able to compete in the global property and construction markets. Nearly 200 leading companies in real estate and construction are supporting the school in various ways – shaping curriculum, providing guest faculty and more importantly, with their commitment to recruit students from the School.

RICS – The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors is a global professional qualification and standard setting body for built environment sector. It is accrediting over 600 built environment courses at leading universities worldwide. In absence of any specialist institutions in India, it has set up this specialized school with Amity University.

Acknowledging the contribution, RICS and Amity University can make in the area of skill development, the Ministry of Urban Development too supports the School. It offers full time specialized programs at bachelors and masters levels:

2 year full time MBA in Real Estate and Urban Infrastructure (with specialization in Investment Finance or Marketing)

2 year full time MBA in Construction Project Management

3 year full time BBA in Real Estate and Urban Infrastructure

Prof. K.T. Ravindran – the former Dean of the School of Planning and Architecture, has been appointed as the Dean. It has also drawn finest faculty from renowned international universities – such as University of Ulster, University of Melbourne, University of Michigan, to name a few.

The School also has an international alliance with University of Salford (UK’s premier destination for built environment studies) to support research, course development and student exchanges. To give further international exposure, which is a must for any educational institution of global pedigree, the School offers students the opportunity to travel to six Asian cities – across Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Tokyo, Seoul and Singapore to work on real life projects with some of the prime companies.

What lies ahead?

Young graduates who realize the potential of this industry are sure to benefit from the enormous opportunities this sector offers. The field is wide open for those looking for their careers to grow as the industry grows! The momentum is building up for admissions. So do not miss the bus towards shaping your career!

Note: This is a sponsored article and has NOT been written by the PaGaLGuY Editorial Team. It is intended from an informational perspective only and it is upto the readers to research and verify the claims and judgements in the article before reaching a conclusion.