Calling India the “sleeping giant,” Graham Robinson, one of the world’s leading global construction economists, predicted that India will overtake Japan as the world’s third largest construction market by 2030. Like Chinese construction companies that are now the largest in the world, the Indian construction industry is going to experience “a complete transformation in size, scale and technical ability” over the next 15 years, he said.
Robinson, director of Global Construction Perspectives, opened the Construction World/ENR Global Leadership Summit in New Delhi Oct. 25, part of a two-day India Construction Festival that drew about 600 attendees to four events. India ranks just 63rd out of 140 countries on the quality of its infrastructure, Robinson said, identifying that factor as a key driver for construction growth along with urbanization and a growing middle class. And he notes that India’s low debt to Gross Domestic Product ratio positions it to be able to afford to finance infrastructure construction.