Real estate, cement, steel, and construction equipment industries have been in the news lately—mostly because their movements have indicated to us how the post-pandemic recovery is likely to be. In a webinar hosted by Construction World and FIRST Construction Council yesterday, experts churned the Union Budget 2021-22 to decipher what it means for those industries. They also decoded what it means in funding and implementation of projects. _________  Construction World and FIRST Construction Council organised a webinar with prominent analysts and industry captains on February 2, the day after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s Union Budget 2021-22 speech. The speakers were: ·         Deepto Roy, Partner, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co ·         Dip Kishore Sen, Director, L&T ·         Hemal Mehta, Partner, Deloitte India ·         Pradeep Singh, former Vice Chairman & MD, IDFC Projects ·         Sandeep Singh, MD, Tata Hitachi ·         Sumit Banerjee, former MD & CEO, ACC Ltd The 90-minute session was moderated by Construction World’s Editor-in-Chief Pratap Padode. The pandemic wreaked havoc on every sector of the economy, leading to two consecutive quarters of contraction in GDP by -23.9% and -7.5%. The industry was looking for path-breaking announcements from the Union Budget 2021-22. For a while now, the industry has aspired for the government’s nurturing hand on both industry and consumer, by both spending and enabling. Were these aspirations fulfilled? What were some of the hits and more importantly, some misses? What are some loopholes and potential pitfalls? The webinar touched upon some of the sectors and industries that are especially focus, either as bellwethers of the economy or as projectors of what impacts the Budget will have on them. Did real estate miss out? Is steel made of steely grit and are new gains cemented? Will construction equipment move towards better efficiency? To view the webinar and read more, click here. Budgets over the years have emphasised on infrastructure, but this budget hit the bull’s eye by specifically allocating funds for infrastructure. Governments have dabbled in public-private partnerships (PPP) in infrastructure projects, and experimented with different methods of the workings of PPP. Arbitration mechanisms take forever, and often, government-related issues such as land acquisition are tricky for the private contractors and partners. What about accelerating project execution? Will the new revenue mobilisation strategy work? Has arbitration worked well or should we move to mediation? To view the webinar and read more, click here.