EPC Sector: 25 Million Jobs by 2030 | Report

Mumbai, Dec 6 (PTI) India's Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) sector is expected to create more than 25 million jobs by 2030, supported by expanding infrastructure development, says a report.

According to HR solutions provider CIEL HR's 'EPC Sector Talent Study, 2025', the EPC sector is one of the country's most powerful job creators and witnessed a 51 per cent surge in hiring demand since 2020.

Over 85 million people, across the organised and unorganised sectors, are employed in the country's EPC sector, and within this, around 7-8 million professionals make up the EPC workforce employed by top firms.

"As infrastructure development across the country expands, the rise in hiring will continue, with the EPC sector expected to generate more than 25 million jobs by 2030. As millions enter the labour pool each year, the sector will continue to absorb a significant share of India's workforce," CIEL HR Managing Director and CEO Aditya Narayan Mishra told PTI.

The 'EPC Sector Market Outlook 2025 Study' is based on a quantitative methodology, with hiring demand derived from 2,27,000 job postings from July 2024 to August 2025 across leading job portals.

Further, the study highlighted that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not a threat to EPC jobs as it will amplify the sector's momentum.

AI will increase efficiency on project sites, strengthen planning and engineering workflows, and enhance supply chain management, but it will not reduce workforce demand, the study added.

"India's development model is now focused on balancing growth between rural and urban regions. As rural infrastructure expands, the need for manpower will only rise. The government is also set to encourage deeper private participation to fuel this expansion. Taken together, India's Viksit Bharat vision will require a substantially larger workforce," Mishra said.

Further, the study revealed that the industry required 2,27,000 professionals in the last four quarters, with tier I cities accounting for 80 per cent of this demand, led by Mumbai (23 per cent) and Delhi (22 per cent), reflecting the rising need for experienced, specialised talent across core engineering and project delivery roles that anchor large-scale infrastructure projects.

Tier II and III cities contribute the remaining 20 per cent of hiring demand, primarily driven by execution-focused roles supporting major government and private-sector projects, it said.

Lucknow, Jaipur, Coimbatore and Visakhapatnam are emerging as essential hubs for site engineering, construction management and field operations, it added.

According to the study, Roads and Highways account for the largest share of total hiring demand at 26 per cent, followed by Power Transmission and Distribution at 15 per cent and Renewables at 14 per cent.

The EPC sector, however, is grappling with a widening talent shortage, the study said, adding that most job postings mainly were for experienced engineers, with 60 per cent of all hiring requirements focused on professionals with more than six years of experience.

However, supply in these categories remains limited, creating significant gaps across specialist roles such as commissioning engineers, protection engineers, BMS specialists, road safety engineers, among others, it stated.

These shortages are most pronounced in fast-growing clusters, including roads and highways, metro systems and renewables, it added.