BIM skills shortfall threatens India’s infrastructure rollout

India, August 30, 2025

News Summary

India’s infrastructure expansion faces a growing risk from a severe shortage of Building Information Modeling (BIM) professionals. Experts warn the country needs roughly ten times the current BIM workforce to avoid project delays, cost overruns and reduced global competitiveness. Major projects across airports, transit, highways, smart cities and green buildings depend on integrated digital workflows that BIM enables. Root causes include outdated curricula, fragmented upskilling and low stakeholder awareness. Leaders recommend modernizing education, scaling industry–academia project-based training, offering incentives for adoption and running sector-wide awareness campaigns to align skills with digital and sustainability goals.

Critical BIM Talent Shortage Threatens India’s Fast‑Paced Infrastructure Growth

Key point: India is building faster than ever, but a severe shortage of Building Information Modeling (BIM) experts risks slowing projects, driving up costs, and weakening the country’s global competitiveness. A leading industry CEO warns the country needs ten times more BIM experts by 2030 to keep pace with planned growth.

Why this matters now

India is reshaping its landscape with airports, highways, metros, smart cities, and green buildings. The construction sector showed strong fundamentals in 2024 with a 10% rise in nominal value added and a 12% rise in gross output. Construction spending topped US$2 trillion in the first half of 2024 and employment climbed to 8.3 million in July 2024, a new high. At the same time, India is on track to become the world’s third‑largest construction market by 2030.

How BIM links to project performance

Modern infrastructure projects depend on integrated digital workflows. BIM is an essential tool for team collaboration, cost optimization, and managing assets across their full life cycle. Where BIM is used well, teams plan better, prevent clashes, and reduce rework. Where it is not used, projects are more likely to face delays, cost overruns, and inefficient planning—problems that erode productivity and waste resources.

India’s gap compared with other countries

BIM adoption in India still lags behind places that already require BIM for public work, such as the UK and Singapore. Those countries have mandates that push consistent use of digital models on major projects. Low adoption in India keeps projects trapped in a cycle of missed schedules and rising costs and could make India less attractive to global investors who expect modern standards.

Root causes of the BIM talent shortfall

Industry leaders point to three main reasons for the digital skills gap in BIM:

Consequences if nothing changes

Without a large and quick expansion of BIM capacity, the sector risks persistent inefficiencies, inflated costs, and delayed projects. A lack of digital readiness could also harm sustainability goals for green buildings and climate‑resilient infrastructure because BIM is central to planning resource‑efficient designs and tracking lifecycle emissions. Inaction could deter investors who prefer partners with modern digital practices.

What industry leaders recommend

To close the gap, leaders call for a multi‑pronged approach:

Wider signs and related trends

The broader engineering and construction world is shifting toward more digital skills. Firms are adopting cloud tech, IoT, 5G, digital twins, AI, and drones to boost productivity, improve safety, and offset labor shortages. Drones are widely used for surveying, inspections, and progress monitoring. Demand for digital skills—data and analytics, cloud, and software—rises alongside the need for traditional craft and managerial skills.

Global research and firm reports show strong investment in construction technology and a jump in mergers and acquisitions as companies seek capability and scale. These trends underline that digital readiness, including BIM capability, is becoming a competitive requirement rather than an optional extra.

Other notable industry moves and appointments

Several corporate moves indicate sector dynamism. One energy company rebranded and signaled a strategic push into defence, energy, and real estate. New senior appointments have been made at major groups and project developers to strengthen strategic planning and project design teams.

Background and earlier warnings

Calls for stronger BIM adoption are not new. Past industry pieces highlighted the need for central technology policy, hands‑on training, and stronger collaboration across agencies to avoid repeated work and wasted investment. Those earlier analyses stressed that population shifts and heavy capital spending would make digital planning tools essential for meeting demand.

Practical next steps for policymakers and industry

Immediate actions that would help include updating curricula, funding nationwide upskilling programs tied to live projects, creating procurement incentives for BIM use in public work, and running clear awareness campaigns aimed at owners, contractors, and consultants. Coordinated moves can protect investments, speed delivery, and support long‑term sustainability goals.

FAQ

What is BIM and why is it important?

BIM is a digital process that creates and manages 3D models and data for design, construction, and asset management. It improves collaboration, reduces rework, and helps control costs and timelines.

How big is the BIM talent gap in India?

Industry leaders estimate a need for roughly ten times the current number of BIM experts in India by 2030 to meet planned infrastructure growth.

What are the main obstacles to faster BIM adoption?

Key obstacles are outdated education, fragmented upskilling, and low awareness among project owners and stakeholders about BIM’s value.

What short‑term steps can firms take?

Firms can start project‑based training, adopt cloud and collaboration tools, pilot BIM on new projects, and partner with local schools and institutes.

Will better BIM skills help sustainability goals?

Yes. BIM supports resource‑efficient design, lifecycle planning, and better tracking of emissions and energy performance for green buildings and resilient infrastructure.

Key features at a glance

Topic Why it matters Action suggested
BIM talent gap Limits project speed, raises costs, hurts competitiveness Scale up training and hire specialists
Education reform Current courses are too theoretical Introduce hands-on BIM and project work in curricula
Industry upskilling Programs are fragmented and not project-focused Create nationwide, project-based training partnerships
Policy and incentives Mandates in other countries drove faster adoption Use procurement and incentives to require BIM on major projects
Technology trends AI, digital twins, drones and cloud increase need for digital skills Integrate BIM with broader digital strategy and tools

Additional reference details

Other sector notes include company rebranding moves, senior hires in project and strategy roles, and ongoing research contributions from consulting and research teams that study construction investment, technology uptake, and workforce trends. Contact details shown in source material: an office address in Noida at 3rd Floor, D-40, Sector-2, Noida, Uttar Pradesh 201301; emails listed as [email protected] and [email protected]; and a contact phone of +91 98200 10226.

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