Engineering Consultancy Services Will Witness Demand
One of the key verticals fuelling India’s ambitious growth story is infrastructure. India's population growth and economic development requires robust infrastructure in roads, railways, aviation and ports. Infrastructure development is important to achieve India’s 2047 vision for a USD 40 trillion economy and move from a developing economy to a developed economy. India’s infrastructure sector comprises of transport, power, bridges, dams, roads, smart cities development, water, and other public utilities and various key projects worth around Rs 108 trillion are at different stages of implementation under the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP).
Government’s focus on building infrastructure of the future has been evident given the various initiatives launched recently. Gati Shakti has been a forerunner to bring, systemic and effective reforms in the infrastructure sector. Government has allocated Rs 111 crore under the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) for FY2019-25, with sectors such as energy, roads, urban and railways amounting to a whopping 71 per cent of the projected infrastructure investment. The online “holistic governance” system – PM Gati Shakti connects 16 ministries — such as Roads and Highways, Railways, Shipping, Petroleum and Gas, Power, Telecom, Shipping, and Aviation — with the objective smooth planning and execution of infrastructure projects. PM Gati Shakti will enable multiple government departments to synchronise their efforts into a multi-modal network. Several other Government initiatives like Asset Monetisation Scheme and New Guidelines on Procurement, etc. are pushing the Indian infrastructure sector in the right direction.
With government’s focus on building robust infrastructure, Engineering Consultancy Services, one of the many consultancy domains, will also be witnessing massive demand especially in developing countries like India. The need for specialists with experience and expertise are required to offer sustainable solutions to Indian infrastructure needs. While ‘innovation’ translates to letting go of conventional approaches and replacing those with modern solutions that are more viable and effective, many practicing professionals, including consultants need to be upskilled to cater to the evolving demands.
Rising Demand for ECS
Engineering and technical consultancy services, include a wide bouquet of premium services which starts from pre-project, project execution and post-project, broadly coveting functions such as project identification and valuation; environmental impact assessment, development & sourcing of technologies; preparation of feasibility reports, market studies; designing of projects; engineering design services, project management services, architectural/construction engineering services; and project commissioning, operations and maintenance.
The infrastructure industry must put innovation at the heart of its future developmental goals to address many of the current and impending domestic and global challenges such as climate change, energy intensity of the economy, effective and efficient infrastructure, in line with the increased pace of urbanisation in the developing countries. As the infrastructure sector continues to grow in India, there are rising demands for many new technologies in the ever-growing Construction industry.
Government’s Jal Jeevan Mission will also generate demand for the engineering consultancy services. The workload of engineering consultants is going to be enormous in all sectors of construction viz. Smart Cities, Smart Mobility, Healthcare, Power, Water, Bridges, Infrastructure, Safety related services, amongst others.
The government has given a mega push to roads, power, coal, civil aviation, railways, smart cities development, dams, and water etc. by announcing multiple new projects which shall generate new challenges and opportunities for consultants and engineers to work upon, bringing in stellar innovations and creativity.
