As India's construction and infrastructure sectors scale at record pace, the next phase of growth will be defined less by how much technology gets adopted, and more by how well that technology, and the data it generates, is connected. In an article published in Construction Times magazine, Shashi Bushan, Executive Managing Director, Project & Development Services (PDS) India, and Lead Occupier, PDS APAC, explores what it will take for India’s construction sector to make that shift.
Read an excerpt from the article-
The construction industry sits at the intersection of global expectations and local execution. Projects today are expected to meet world-class standards of quality, sustainability and efficiency, yet their delivery often relies on coordinating vast networks of fragmented supply chains and on-site labour with varying formal training. Bridging the gap between rising expectations and execution realities has become one of the industry's defining challenges, making predictability an increasingly important measure of project success.
IMARC Group estimates that India's construction market, valued at close to USD 685 billion in 2025, will grow to more than USD 1.2 trillion by 2034. Alongside this expansion, government capital expenditure keeps increasing year on year. At the same time, a new generation of digitally native professionals is entering the industry with different expectations around collaboration, transparency and technology-enabled decision making. Attracting and retaining this talent will depend, in part, on the industry's ability to offer modern, technology-enabled ways of working. In this environment, improving the predictability of cost, timelines, and project outcomes is no longer a competitive advantage. It is becoming a strategic necessity.
Yet construction continues to operate in one of the most complex delivery environments. While several industries have accelerated their digital transformation journeys, real estate and construction remain at a relatively early stage of digital maturity. Cushman & Wakefield's recent PropTech Report ‘From Square Footage to Smart Footage’ highlights that the sector continues to trail industries such as BFSI and technology on digital maturity indicators, even as the broader economy accelerates its adoption of AI and data-driven decision-making.
Read the full article here: https://constructiontimes.co.in/September-2026
