Most parents, teachers, students, counselors, even entrepreneurs, are well aware of the general management courses offered by various institutions like MBA in Finance, Marketing, Human Resources, Logistics, and Supply Chain Management and also about the employment opportunities these courses offer to students after course completion.

However, in some industries, aforesaid qualifications are considered irrelevant. Most technical industries look for graduates who can manage their production/services in an effective way with promising results. Such industries prefer to hire candidates having both technical as well as management skills specific to the product/services they deal in and consider any professional lacking in either of these skills, irrelevant.

70 percent of graduates rolling out every year in the field of Engineering and Management are unemployable due to lack of skills and obsolete degrees. This creates huge human resource crunch within the industry.

Educational institutes that have a strong industry-institute liaison are proactive in addressing the shortage of skilled professionals by developing new, innovative and relevant programmes with technical and managerial concepts by regularly taking inputs from the industry experts. These programmes are commonly termed as techno-managerial courses as they address the skill sets and competencies required to meet the challenges faced by the industries. Such programmes are embedded with technical, managerial and ethical content with more emphasis on case studies related to the specific industries. In a way, industry issues are brought in the classroom and simulated for better understanding. These courses are becoming popular within a short period of time and very well accepted by the industry domestically and globally.

One such industry which has a high demand for techno-managerial skills is the Built Environment Sector.

The Indian built environment sector is growing rapidly and is predicted that by 2030 it will be the third largest industry in the world. This sector will create ample employment opportunities as it is growing by 7-8 percent each year. Urban population is on the rapid rise and will increase by 40% in approximately 15 years. These statistics give us broad hints about the quantum of investment needed and requirements for professionals having technical as well managerial skills in the built environment sector which consists of construction, real estate, and urban infrastructure.

India is going to be a land of ample opportunities for many local and foreign investors in this sector. The government has planned to build 100 smart cities and more than 5 corers houses by 2022 in urban and rural India. In the current union budget, there is a dedicated fund allocated to affordable housing.

Demonetisation followed by Policy reforms such as Real Estate Regulatory Act (RERA), Goods and Service Tax (GST), Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT), Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvIT), Relaxation of Foreign direct investment (FDI) and External Commercial Borrowing (ECB) and ease of doing business has transformed the Real Estate sector forcing the unorganized businesses to shift to an organized format which is professionally managed. In the last 2 years, therefore, there has been a drastic change in the way business is conducted in real estate and urban infrastructure sector especially as a result of government reforms and programmes in the built environment sector. This sector is actively looking for a huge number of professionals having both technical as well as managerial skills.

In addition to policy reforms, government programmes such as Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna (Affordable Housing), Smart Cities, AMRUT (Urban Renewal), HRIDAY (Heritage Cities Preservation), Make in India (Manufacturing), Digital India has opened new avenues for Construction, Real Estate, and Urban Infrastructure professionals to make a very fruitful career in this sector. For example, Real Estate developers and consulting firms are looking for professionals to carry out research and feasibility studies, which help to arrive at a strong project proposal. Other skills required are to estimate cash flow when the property is leased out and ability to calculate the value of the property, play advisory roles for investment banks and private equity funds who lend money for real estate construction. Other relevant skills include leasing building, spotting investment opportunities - lease or buy, land acquisition, management & disposal of real estate, ensuring workplace productivity through design and maintenance, etc. A combination of technical and managerial knowledge will help develop the above-listed skills.

Pure technical courses or management courses fall short in inculcating the above-mentioned skills to meet the demands of Construction, Real Estate, and Urban Infrastructure sector. The only way to achieve these skills is by joining the techno-managerial courses offered by various universities across the nation which are validated by the higher education regulatory bodies and are internationally recognized. MBA in Construction, Real Estate and Urban Infrastructure has the capability to address these skills meeting the requirements of Real Estate and Urban Infrastructure Sector. Such courses developed by universities will help bridge the requirement of human resource gap to meet the industry demands.

The young generation must capture this opportunity to make a career in this sector which will become the world’s third largest construction market by 2030.