India’s civil engineering sector is struggling to get underway amid the ongoing global economic crisis, with some countries facing shortages of skilled workers, according to the US$ 15 million in US government aid it has provided to help it develop its civil engineering demand.
India is the world’s fourth largest economy, after China and Brazil, with a population of almost 1.3 billion.
The US$3.2bn civil engineering grant announced on Wednesday will be used to develop infrastructure projects and train workers in civil engineering.
India has been working on the countrys most ambitious engineering project since 2006, when a consortium led by China and the US decided to build a new highway through the Andaman Sea, which has never been built.
The highway was designed to cut the country’s carbon footprint, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase economic growth.
India is already building a road through the Brahmaputra in Pakistan, but its construction has been plagued by a series of technical challenges and safety concerns, which the US said last year were “worsening”.
The new highway, which will connect the country with Pakistan’s border with Bangladesh, will have a cost of $1.2 trillion, according US officials.
The total cost of the project has yet to be calculated, but India has said it expects to spend $500 million on the project.
India’s civil engineers have long faced shortages of trained and skilled workers due to a shortage of engineers in the country.
But there is growing concern that this is only getting worse as India embarks on a new industrial boom, fuelled by an ambitious economic growth plan that aims to double the country ‘s output to $1 trillion in the next 15 years.
In March, India approved the second phase of a $600 million fund to help the country create 250,000 civil engineers by 2020, according an Indian government statement.
It was the largest such funding to be allocated by the Indian government to the civil engineering industry since 2011, when the government allocated $5.3bn for civil engineering training in the US.
In May, the government approved a $500m loan for the country to build new schools and other infrastructure for civil engineers.
In September, the US Congress approved a US$5.6bn loan for India to build the Brahmantra Expressway, the first rail link between the two countries, which is expected to be completed by 2021.
But in recent months, a series on the problems faced by civil engineers has intensified, with more than 200 civil engineers resigning over their inability to complete the construction of the railway.
India has also suspended several contracts with contractors that have been working in the fields of civil engineering after the government reported an increase in worker deaths.
The US is one of a number of countries that has been sending cash to India to help develop its demand for civil engineer jobs.
The State Department last month approved a new $500,000 grant to the Indian ministry of civil works for the construction and operation of civil engineers, which it said was designed for the “expansion of the civil engineer industry”.
“Civil engineering is one area where India has tremendous potential and tremendous potential to grow,” US Secretary of State John Kerry told the AP news agency on Tuesday.
“The government has an opportunity to show leadership on the demand side of civil construction, and the infrastructure side of it, and to provide some of that leadership in the long term.”
Indian civil engineers say they are still facing difficulties.
According to the latest census data, the country had 1.17 million civil engineers in 2013, but only 623,000 were employed in 2015, and nearly 70 per cent of those jobs were in fields related to civil engineering or civil engineering technology.
The government said it would be hiring about 100,000 more civil engineers this year.
