Real estate digital sales have come up in a big way during this pandemic: Mohit Malhotra, MD, Godrej Properties

Mumbai: Real estate digital sales have come up in a big way during this current pandemic said Godrej Properties' managing director, Mohit Malhotra at a webinar organised by CII.

"There is a shift towards quality providers and due to the current labour shortage there is also a shift towards greater use of technology and bringing mechanisation in the process," he added.

Historically, the real estate sector is a supply lead industry but the Covid-19 pandemic has shifted the same to a demand lead industry, said Malhotra.

Speaking at the 9th edition of the conference on Infrastructure Project Management, organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Tata AutoComp Systems managing director, Arvind Goel said that the growth of the real estate sector is complemented by the growth of the corporate environment and the demand for office space.

Tata Group’s subsidiary, Tata AutoComp provides products and services to Indian and global automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) as well as tier 1 suppliers.

Stringent lockdown measures to curb the pandemic Coronavirus led to a complete halt in construction activities. With migrant labourers starting to move to their hometowns, construction companies struggled to reopen due to acute shortage of labour.

"India’s goal of reaching a 5 trillion dollar economy rests on the completion of critical infrastructure under the National Infrastructure Plan as the sector employs nearly 49 million people close to around 12 per cent of the national working population," said Goel.

Construction and real estate being the second largest employer after agriculture, there is a need to revive the sector in order to boost the economy, said Radheshyam Mopalwar, vice chairman and managing director, Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation.

"The focus must be laid on skilling and reskilling the workforce in order to make them future ready," he added.