The Covid-19 pandemic has hit the large economies around the world. India will be one of the largest economies to suffer and recover from this pandemic as per the International Monetary Fund. It is anticipated that India’s GDP for the ongoing financial year will shrink by 4.5%. India’s growth potential had dropped from 6 percent to 5 percent.

Looking at the current scenario, India will take some time to emerge from the Covid-19 recession. Almost all sectors in India have been impacted by the spread of this virus and the functioning of the economy has disrupted. Hundreds of people have to bear pay-cuts, and many have lost their jobs and are unemployed. Due to the lockdown, the labour sector and daily wage earners have been severely impacted as there is a lack of jobs in the industry.

Even the laborers working in the construction industry are unable to find any employment because most of the site operations have been put on halt. Quarantine and travel ban have affected thousands of people across the nation to leave the factories short of labour and parts and impacted the flow of supply chain management across construction, technology, automotive, manufacturing, consumer goods, pharmaceutical and other industries.

The Indian Economy after 2 years:

Due to extreme conditions like loss of jobs, improper demand and supply ratio, shutting down of companies it is inevitable that India will go through a major recession. India will face huge downfall in the government revenues and growth of the income for at least two quarters. The decline in investor sentiment affects privatization plans, government and industry. It is predicted that the GDP of India will contract in the current financial year (2020- 2021).

It is a fact that economic recovery does not happen overnight, meanwhile, the economic activities in the next few quarters will also take some amount of time to overcome the losses.

Many experts believe that India will take at least 3 to 4 years to emerge out of this situation. It is uncertain for how long this crisis will remain, however, if correct measures are taken at the correct time then we can prevent our economy from falling further. Meanwhile, people have now adopted the new way of working from home or working remotely to avoid human interaction. 

In the near future there are possibilities that a lot of work will be done virtually through software and by using updated technologies. 

Effect on Real Estate/Construction Project Management:

Due to the ongoing COVID pandemic, the construction industry in India is expected to face reduction in both supply and demand. The current levels of uncertainty, loss of income as well as the diversion of government funds towards COVID-19 management are some of the important reasons that this sector has taken a hit.

Due to the spread of coronavirus has impacted the construction projects due to social distancing and lack of manpower on-site.  There is a delay in the completion of the projects and difficulties in procuring raw material, supply chain disruption would result in decline of construction activities in the coming months even after the restrictions are lifted.

The Indian real estate sector is also going through a tough time due to this pandemic. There aren’t enough buyers and the property transactions have dropped. The new projects have been kept on hold and it is uncertain how long this will prevail.

The Construction Industry in India stands second after agriculture in terms of employment generation and therefore it is vital to the country's economic stability. The construction industry accounts for around 8 percent of India’s GDP with an industry size of INR 10.5 Trillion and employing 57.5 million people. Since construction stands as a core sector, there are other numerous industries that are dependent on it.

For Example, the construction equipment manufacturing industry comprises around 500 companies and is estimated to be sized at INR 375 billion by 2020. It is forecasted that by 2030 the Indian population living in urban areas is going to surge to 520 million.

To support and accommodate increasing population the government has come up with various initiatives such as Smart Cities, Housing for All, AMRUT, HRIDAY along with policy support Real Estate Act. This clearly shows that in the coming future there will be a high demand for skilled workers within the industry. Professionals who are trained adequately to work on-site as well as remotely will find it easier to get diverse employment opportunities.

Today the professionals are expected to work on software and technologies that can help them carry out the activities efficiently. Many experts believe that working remotely is the new normal as technology has replaced manpower in many areas.

With the introduction of robots, drones, BIM, Artificial Intelligence etc. have reduced the human effort and deliver results on-time. Using technology and software in construction activities help to achieve goals and is also cost friendly. Professionals who wish to make sound career in the construction and real estate sector can look for institutions like RICS SBE (School of Built Environment) that provides students technical as well as management knowledge to excel in their career.

The course curriculum is rich and diverse and is designed as per the global standards to student’s industry ready RICS SBE incorporates learning of management skills and application of different software used into the construction industry.