Budget 2012-13: Infrastructure industry expects improved incentives and policies

TimesJobs.com Bureau

Job market in the infrastructure industry remained unchanged in October to December 2011 quarter. Though, there has been surge of upcoming projects in the pipeline, work is yet to begin, claimed industry experts. This is largely been the result of high interest rates and unclear policies. As a result no significant impact on uptake of hiring is expected in near future.

A constant increased interest from global players in the Indian infrastructure space certainly positions it for soaring investments in the long-term. Budget 2011 allocated 48.5% of the total planned expenditure to infrastructure. This year too, expectations from the budget, which marks the beginning of the Twelfth Five Year Plan, are high.


Budget at ET: Budget 2012 | Union Budget | Railway Budget 2012 | Budget News | Economic Survey 2012 Live


TimesJobs.com talked to several industry leaders to know the Infrastructure industry's expectations from budget 2012. Largely, the budget expectations of infrastructure industry focused on:

> Increased allocation for projects
>Higher allocation for flagship infrastructure programs (such as, Bharat Nirman, JNNURM, NHDP)
> Eased land acquisition and environment clearance
> Improved incentives and tax breaks for investing in infrastructure projects

Raj Sharma, (Co- Founder & President), Majestic MRSS, a Global Market Research Firm, stated that a fair policy and powerful regulatory framework will help boost the infrastructure sector's confidence level. He suggested that Government should also pay due attention towards the financial problems and financial scams which tend to block the infrastructure development. He further encouraged public & private partnerships in the sector. He expects special funds for urban infrastructure development including metro rail projects, road building, comprehensive water management and sewage treatment plants in various cities in country. But insists that rural infrastructure should also be given equal attention.

In the recently launched RecruiteX Quarterly Report, Raj Sharma, Head - Corporate HR, Era Group revealed that there has been a decline in job opportunities in the Infrastructure sector especially in the cash contracts. The demand and growth in Infrastructure industry is largely dependent on the nature of projects. Currently, there is significant movement in the metro projects, so the market for Metro engineers looks promising. Similarly, the development work in Railway and Highway segment is also active. Hence, they will also propel the demand of Engineers specific to their requirement in the coming

If the budget expectations of industry are met in Budget 2012, it is likely to result in launch of new infrastructure projects which would further result in fresh hiring of engineers and construction professionals. Any clarity on Land Acquisition Bill will remove bottlenecks which may result in increased hiring across levels for stalled projects.

In Budget 2011 government agencies were allowed to issue over $6 billion worth of tax-free infrastructure bonds. This has helped institutions such as NHAI and many others to raise large amount of funds from public for infrastructure investment during the year. In Budget 2012 the Infrastructure industry is expecting the same on other such fiscal incentives which can further boost employment prospects.

Industry experts insist that there are hurdles that the government should address beyond just policy changes. These include delays in land acquisition and lack of availability of skilled labor. The experts further suggest that organisations such as NSDC should come forward and assign special funds and programs to impart specialized skills to meet infrastructure industry requirements.