Employment opportunities to the tune of approximately four to five lakh are expected to be generated within the next two years across the country’s leading cities in case India’s economic growth accelerates to above six per cent in 2015, according to global realty consultancy CBRE.
The IT/ITeS and allied services sectors are likely to account for a substantial chunk of this opportunity, followed by the banking, financial, services and insurance sectors, CBRE pointed.
According to CBRE Research, more than 70–80 million square feet of fresh commercial office space is expected to become available by 2015, most of which are planned and under-construction IT/ITeS spaces.
“Assuming about 60–65 per cent absorption levels for this upcoming office space, approximately four to five lakh employment opportunities may be realistically anticipated within the next two years,” added Anshuman Magazine, CMD, CBRE South Asia.
According to the CBRE report, the three major metropolitan centres of Bangalore, Delhi’s National Capital Region and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region are slated to account for nearly three quarters of this planned office space supply, with Bangalore and the NCR alone expected to contribute to over half of this total expected employment opportunity by the end of 2015.
“Improved international and domestic infrastructure connections have supported growth in a number of cities, including Mumbai’s financial cluster and the economic hub of the NCR. Growth in the technology sector has particularly contributed to this phenomenon. With the US economy on a gradual recovery graph, improving prospects could also translate into more back-office opportunities for India,” said the report.
The CBRE report also highlighted an emerging trend of offshore funds and institutional players turning to investments in core commercial assets in India. “With the possibility of Indian REITs taking off, and India’s core commercial assets yielding comparatively high rentals among emerging markets, it would seem that India is poised to make the best of the opportunity headed its way,” added Magazine.