800+ delegates expected at PMI Bengaluru conference on 3 Oct
India will need almost 160,000 additional construction project managers by 2035, representing a 67% increase from now, according to the US-based Project Management Institute’s (PMI) recent Construction Talent Gap report.
“As the Indian economy continues its rapid growth, there is an urgent need to strengthen construction project management capability across the country,” said Ben Breen, Vice President of Gigaprojects at PMI, who has focused on developments in South Asia for more than two decades.
“The challenge is not simply the number of projects being delivered. As India accelerates investment across infrastructure, manufacturing, energy and urban development, projects are becoming larger, more interconnected and more complex,” Press Trust of India quoted Breen as saying on 8 Sept.
“The industry needs more professionals with construction project management capability, including leadership, governance, stakeholder management and risk management skills, to successfully deliver these investments and realise their intended value.”
Breen noted that India already has a substantial base of engineering and technical talent. However, the country’s next phase of growth will also require more professionals capable of leading complex projects and programmes from concept through delivery.
“It is important that emerging professionals combine practical project experience with internationally recognised knowledge and capabilities,” he said. “Building that wider capability will be critical to ensuring that India’s major investments achieve their intended outcomes and that ‘Made in India’ and ‘Made for the World’ projects meet global standards.”
PMI, which has a global network, will host a project management conference in Bengaluru on Oct 3. The Project Management South Asia Conference 2026 conference will bring together more than 800 project leaders and representatives from over 180 organisations under the theme “MORE, Together: Future-Ready in the Age of AI.”
The conference will explore how human leadership, project management capability and artificial intelligence can help organisations navigate complexity and deliver greater value, said Breen in an update after speaking to PTI on the sidelines of International Built Environment Week, held in Singapore from 2-4 Sept. fiinews.com
