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Beckoning Realty Degrees

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Specially-designed academic courses in real estate studies may be the next big thing.

p2It is not commonly known that after agriculture, the real estate and infrastructure sector is the biggest employer in the country. While the sector contributes about 25 per cent to the annual GDP, it also provides the widest range of employment to the Indian work force – from a worker, who carries bricks on his head, to the highly-skilled architects, civil, electrical, mechanical engineers, managers, accountants, etc. Since 2001, India’s hit her to unorganised real estate and construction sectors have grown at cumulative growth rate of 19 percent.

According to Mercer, the world’s biggest HR company, the Indian realty sector – at over 17 per cent – offered the highest salary increases in the last few years (prior to the global meltdown), more than even the IT sector. Moreover, even with the slackening economy, every builder in the country today has more volume of work than five years ago.

But the number of people with knowledge of the realty business has not grown at the commensurate pace. At present, there is an acute shortage of trained manpower in the sector even as most developers are getting more professional and revving up on their expansion plans.

While most of the Indian colleges, universities and even the business schools do not offer any structure real estate management programmes, the specially designed academic courses on real estate are the need of the hour.

With an aim to plug in this gap, I-LEAD, (Institute of Leadership, Entrepreneurship and Development) Kolkata, has launched the first ever well-structured real estate management programme in India.

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While the institute is offering both undergraduate (BBA) and post-graduate programme (MBA) with specialisation in real estate, students pursuing BCom, CA, Certified Management Accounts programme can also avail of a short-term six-month customised course.

I-LEAD Kolkata also has a tie-up with the Colvin Institute of Real Estate Development under the University of Maryland, USA, for exchange of faculty members as well as students. Recently, a group of real estate students from USA visited I-LEAD to study real estate development in India.

“Considering the huge requirement of such professionals by the real estate industry, a good placement is guaranteed to all such students including undergraduates specialising in real estate. Students having completed or doing CA, CFA or CMA programs can also do a short-term real estate  programme for better placements not only with builders or real estate companies but also with banks and other financial institutions who have a large financial exposure to the real estate sector,” said Pradeep Chopra, Founder, I-LEAD.

“Real estate is the biggest growth engine for economic development. Considering the importance of real estate and the housing sector, economic advisors  allover the world have offered major concessions to buyers of first homes in the form of tax rebates and interest subsidies.

• The realty and construction sector provides the widest range of employment to the Indian workforce.
• The Indian realty sector – at over 17% – offered the highest salary increases in the last few years prior to the global meltdown.
• There is acute shortage of trained manpower in the sector even as most developers are getting more professional and revving up on their expansion plans.
• Specially-designed academic courses on real estate are the need of the hour.
• The RICS-Amity tie-up may prove to be a boon for those who want to pursue their career in real estate management. The fee for BBA is ~1.5Iakh, while for MBA it is ~2.5Iakh per annum.

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1By 2020, India’s population is estimated to increase to 1.38 billion, with 500 million (36%) of urban population. Additional population will generate unprecedented demand for quality real estate and infrastructure.

Pradeep ChopraBy 2020, Considering the huge requirement of such professionals by the real estate industry, a good placement is guaranteed to all such students including undergraduates specialising in real estate
Pradeep Chopra, Founder of I-Lead

Stepping Stones
• There is approximately 80% shortage of skilled professionals in the realty sector. Of the over 50 million people employed in real estate, infrastructure and construction, only 2 million are professionally qualified.
• Besides civil engineers and architects, three times more their number from nontechnical professionals (management, finance, legal fields) is working in this sector.
• Over next decade, India would need nearly 4 million civil engineers, 396,000 architects and 119,000 planners on an average to meet the growing demand of professional assistance for construction of houses while the corresponding average supply available would only be 642,000 civil engineers, 65,000 architects and 18,000 planners. If this is not rectified, chances are high that by 2020, India will face a likely demand-supply gap of 44 million core professionals.
(Source: RICS Research Report ‘Real Estate and Construction Professional in India by 2020)

jugalReal estate is the biggest growth engine for economic development. Considering the importance of the sector, economic advisers all over the world have offered major concessions to buyers of first homes in the form of tax rebates and interest subsidies. This, in turn, has served to boost the growth of the real estate sector as well as the country’s economy. Such special management courses on the real estate will help people understand the industry for better functioning.
Jugal Khetawat, Rameshwara Group

Atul chauhanThe School aims to bridge the skill gap existing in real estate sector in India by equipping 15,000 – 20,000 construction, real estate and infrastructure management professionals over the next three to five years.
Atul Chauhan, Chancellor, Amity University, Noida

Pawan GomesNearly 25 crore sq ft of IT-park space will be added during the next five years to accommodate an additional 23 lakh IT professionals in knowledge based industries and businesses. At least 230 crore sq ft of housing and 50 crore sq ft of retail and other support services space would be required for the IT sector alone. This will need a large number of skilled manpower and that is why such management institutes ealing with real estate will be a great help for youngsters who want to explore this new field.
Pawan Gomes, Director, Supravana Constructions

This in turn has served to boost the growth ofthe real estate sector as well as the country’s economy. Such special management courses on the real estate will help people understand the industry for better functioning,” said Jugal Khetawat, Chairman, Rameshwara Group. In another significant development, in April this year, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Amity University to start degree courses in real estate, construction and infrastructure. Amity has readied its infrastructure for  the new course at its Noida campus, while RICS is providing the curriculum.

The first batch of 135 students has already started its classes from July with degree programmes in BBA, MBA in real estate and urban infrastructure and MBA in construction project management being offered.

RICS is planning to increase the class capacity to nearly 700 students in the coming five years. The RICS-Amity tie-up may prove to be a boon for those
who want to pursue their career in real estate management. The fee for BBA is ~1.5 lakh per annum, while for MBAit is~2.5lakh.

Inaugurating the RICS School of Built Environment, Kamal Nath, Union Minister of Urban Development, had recently said: “This first-of-its-kind initiative between RICS and Amity University will lay the foundation to set up new benchmarks that other institutions will subsequently try and emulate. The challenges of urbanisation in India are already immense. India has a very young demographic profile that’s extremely mobile and we’re already seeing small towns becoming the hub of economic activity”.

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One of the biggest challenges facing the real-estate, construction and infrastructure sectors is that of good human resources. The RICS School of Built Environment, Amity University will therefore enable quality and relevant education for young professionals entering this sector. “I also look forward to the School of Built Environment creating ‘next practices’ which in turn will lead to ‘best practices’ for the industry. The government will be happy to assist this partnership in anyway possible,” hesaid.

p1“The school aims to bridge the skill gap existing in real estate sector in India by equipping 15,000-20,000 construction, real estate and infrastructure management professionals over the next three to five years. It delivers globally relevant curriculum for BBA and MBA programs through a practice-based pedagogy,” said Atul Chauhan, Chancellor, Amity University, Noida.

According to the ministry of Urban Development, the Indian urban population is likely to grow from the current 28 per cent to over 45 per cent over the next 20 years due to migration of people from rural areas to urban centres in search of better education, employment opportunity and enhanced lifestyles.

With a whopping 54 crore Indians below 25 years of age, there would be a much bigger demand than ever before for employment opportunities, for homes, for places to get educated, shops, healthcare and entertainment centres etc all of which would require more construction and infrastructure.

“By 2020, India’s population is estimated to increase to 1.38 billion, with 500 million (36 per cent) of urban population. Additional population will generate unprecedented demand for quality real estate and infrastructure,” said Chauhan.

There is also enough indication in keeping with the growing trend of nuclear families that the young population would be living in their own homes  instead of living with their parents. Moreover, the real estate is already emerging as the best investment option and a definite way to ensure complete financial security. All these factors would have tremendous bearing in the real estate sector.

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“Nearly 25 crore sq ft of IT (park) space will be added during the next five years to accommodate an additional 23 lakh IT workers and knowledge-based industries and businesses. At least 230 crore sq ft of housing and 50 crore sq ft of retail and other support services space would be required forthe IT sector alone. This will need a large number of skilled manpower and that is why such management institutes dealing with real estate will bea great help for youngsters who want to explore this new field,” said a developer, Pawan Gomes.

“Therefore, we need to double our entire urban  infrastructure. There is a real estate business opportunity of Rs 100,00,000 crore (approx US$ 2.5 trillion) in India spread over the next 20 years which is likely to grow at an annual rate of 10-15 per cent during the next 20 years – much faster than the growth of Indian economy. We have some employees in our office who are pursuing management courses on real estate and this will help our company in terms of providing good service to our clients,” he added.

• The realty and construction sector provides the widest range of employment to the Indian workforce

• The Indian realty sector – at over 17% – offered the highest salary increases in the last few years prior to the global meltdown

• There is acute shortage of trained manpower in the sector even as most developers are getting more professional and revving up on their expansion plans.

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The School aims to bridge the skill gap existing in real estate sector in India by equipping 15,000 – 20,000 construction, real estate and infrastructure management professionals over the next three to five years.

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