India is far from being a developed nation, will take 15 years to be one, say 70% of cos in survey

Mumbai: Even as India is touted as an investment destination, nearly 70 percent of corporates feel the country is still far from being a developed nation, a survey has said. The survey, conducted by property consultant CBRE South Asia, said though the majority of the respondents believe India is still far from being a developed nation, nearly 60 percent of them feel the country will be developed in less than 15 years. The survey, titled ‘Journey from a developing nation to a developed nation’, which included over 100 top corporates in the country and over 500 respondents, was conducted by the Project Management group of CBRE. “India has emerged as the fastest-growing major economy in the world and is exhibiting a high GDP growth rate of around 7 percent. “We are listed in the top five most attractive destinations for FDI and not only this, India is expected to be one of the youngest countries in the world by 2020,” said Anshuman Magazine, CBRE Chairman - India and South East Asia. Stating that the infrastructure industry, real estate and construction have major impact on the development of an economy, he said the investor sentiment is positive and “we are certain that realty in India will continue to be a huge contributor towards building the nation”. [caption id=“attachment_2369880” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Bombay Stock Exchange. Reuters[/caption] The survey revealed more than 85 percent of the respondents agree that Indian construction industry still needs to adapt to international standards on planning and delivering projects. Also, more than 80 percent agree that the construction industry needs to become an organised sector to increase the rate of development in India. “Nearly two-third of the respondents agree that there is a shortage of skilled workforce at all levels and also that most of the construction companies lack the management skills to understand and improve the process of development,” the survey noted. It pointed out that more than half the respondents agree that there is an immediate need for public and private investment for vocational training for meeting a skilled construction workforce. “To summarise, the top five accelerators to make Indian construction industry at par with a developed nation include robust governance and implementation of policies, effective construction management, awareness on new construction methods and technologies, quality of materials and construction techniques and quality of human resources,” it added.