The booming construction industry in the country suffers due to a lack of skilled manpower to execute big projects. Clearly, a greater focus on the training of manpower and collaboration with educational institutions is a must, said panelists at the seminar organised by The Economic Times in association with Sujana Metal Products Limited.

For starters, the construction industry is largely unorganised and employs over 31 million people. The Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) has estimated that the industry needs to add at least five million people every year to execute projects that are being planned across various infrastructure sectors in the country.

Clearly, given the large-scale activity in the infrastructure sector, demand outstrips supply. If the gap is not bridged, it would lead to time- and cost-overrun, held the panelists. "The shortage is so intense that the industry has started employing expatriates at lower, middle and higher levels as well," said PriceWaterhouse partner Ramakrishna Pachigolla.

One of the biggest real estate developers in the country, for instance, plans to bring back over 20,000 Indian construction workers employed in West Asia. Another company is on course to hire 40,000 Chinese workers for its gas pipeline project.

But the panelists felt that there are ways out to tackle the challenge here. First, promote civil engineering as a good career choice. Two, make the remuneration package attractive for these engineers to check possible attrition.