Bijli, Sadak aur Paani, the buzzwords

There’s a little statistic that escapes our attention. Today, India’s construction industry accounts for as much as five per cent of the GDP. That is over Rs 60,000 crore, with the total GDP estimated to be a little over Rs 12 lakh crores. It is the second largest employer after agriculture. It offers a means of living for over 60 million people, the second largest after the farm sector’s 240 million. With all its hype, the IT industry generates under Rs 8,000 crore—less than 1.4 per cent of the total GDP, with the sector employing about less than 1.5 per cent of the country’s labour force.
From those in their mid–fifties to the green horns from college portals, there are more than eight million civil engineers working across the land on homes, office buildings, roads, bridges, dams, and other commercial work places, not to forget the burgeoning leisure industry.
Infrastructure is the buzzword in an economy where even the politician, apart from the electorate, has begun to talk of bijli, sadak and paani. No one talks of the rail patri, sadly, these days. It is by far the cheaper, less polluting and safer mode of transport, for both people and cargo. India inherited from the Brits 50,000 km of rail lines. The total broad gauge lines in the country today is 63,000 km.
And so if you are in the business of infrastructure, you cannot but grow. It is so huge there is space for everyone.
But look at the flip side. It has meant the entry of just about any one who can raise some monies to go into the business of building houses, for instance.
There is not the sense of awesome responsibility that one should carry if you’re in the business of building things that have to endure. And there’s not the sensitivity to the use of resources—be it materials, or power, or water. And it’s sobering to remember that 50 per cent of all energy consumed go toward construction and building materials.
The Next Big Thrust
BCIL, over ten years, has consolidated its skills and managerial competence to take the next big thrust in enabling such long–term amenities. At BCIL, we cannot handle sadaks, but bijli and paani are areas where the group is set to make an abiding impression over the years ahead.
As a professional group, BCIL has grown steadily the last three years from 35 families to over 145 families. And this year alone, we have over 100 families joining the existing rostrum of sensitive citizens who are choosing these alternate lifestyles.
What is really heart-warming is that there are so many people out there who seek sensitized values and guidelines for their homes. And it only steels our resolve to offer the best; to maximize professional inputs on design and execution for every amenity we offer; to get the best talent to toil at making life that much easier for the resident.
We see a great future in the power of design to create new solutions for homes-building, while bearing in mind cost, aesthetics and performance. The buildings, after all, have to be built to last.
— Editor