RICS School of Built Environment launches Mumbai campus

 Second campus in India, First in West India 

 only accredited curriculum in India, leads to chartered qualification in real estate, construction, infrastructure 

by Shrutee K/DNS

Mumbai, 15th November 2016: Three years after opening its maiden campus in Noida, RICS School of Built Environment, Amity University (RICS SBE), a collaboration between RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors), a global professional body for qualifications and standards in land, property, construction and associated environment issues and Amity University, today announced the launch of its second campus in the country. The announcement was done by Dr Sean Tompkins, Global CEO, RICS and Dr Aseem Chauhan, Chancellor, Amity University in the presence of Mr Sachin Sandhir, Global Managing Director – Emerging Business RICS. The launch of the school has received support and blessings from Hon’ble Union Minister of Railways, Shri Suresh Prabhu, in addition to having the support of the Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India. 

RICS SBE Mumbai will be located within the campus of Amity University at Panvel, Mumbai and will offer 3 years BBA in Real Estate and Urban Infrastructure, 2 years MBA in Real Estate and Urban Infrastructure and 2 year MBA in Construction Project Management courses starting July 2017. The school will be headed by Prof. Jagadish K Math as the Dean of RICS SBE, Mumbai; Amol Shimpi, formerly with HCC Real Estate joins the management as Associate Dean and Director, School of Real Estate, RICS SBE, Mumbai. 

Presently, the Noida campus attracts 50% of students from South & West region, indicating growing inclination of young talent in these regions towards the real estate and construction sector and willingness to shift geographic base for specialized education. The first batch in Mumbai will start with 200 students. Together across Noida (which has already educated 1,500 students) and Mumbai campus, RICS SBE seeks to provide education to 10,000 students over the next five years. 

Dr Sean Tompkins, Global CEO, RICS said, “I am extremely pleased at the fast growth that RICS has seen in India over the last eight years. This is a clear indication of the direction in which the real estate market is also moving where we are seeing a need for qualified and accredited professionals. Our aim with the school is to ensure that we not only prepare quality professionals to specialize in various business aspects of the real estate and construction sector including financing, facility and property management, project management, contract management, but also help in streamlining what is perceived as a rather unorganized and fragmented industry in India. It is encouraging that students are looking at real estate as a career possibility. RICS School of Built Environment will play the role of a catalyst in driving the industry in this direction and help in shaping its future. Over the years, our partnership with Amity University has only strengthened and I am sure we will establish more campuses across the country in the near future.” Congratulating RICS School of Built Environment on the launch of the Mumbai campus, Hon’ble Union Minister of Railways, Shri Suresh Prabhu, via video said, “I am happy to note that RICS is contributing in nurturing future talent who will be duly educated on sound principles of much needed knowledge, as the country undertakes massive reforms to build a smart India. I congratulate and support opening up of the second campus of RICS School of Built Environment – an academic institution that is shaping such qualified professionals to build and manage Indian real estate and infrastructure”

Real estate and construction sector has the biggest shortfall of skilled manpower in the country. An earlier study by RICS (2011) had pointed out that by 2020, the Indian realty sector will face an 85% shortage of skilled manpower across professional categories. By 2020, the sector will require 5 million civil engineers, architects and planners, as against the expected supply of less than a million of these professionals. 

Speaking about the need for qualified professionals in the real estate sector, Mr Sachin Sandhir, Global Managing Director – Emerging Business, RICS said, “In Indian real estate and construction sector only 2 out of 50 million people employed are qualified and meet the necessary standards resulting in the industry attracting close to 15% talent from other sectors. The slowdown of the last few years has woken up the industry to the fact that it is important to be professionally managed. Real estate companies are looking to hire professionals with technical expertise on par with international standards. While we have real estate professionals educated in architecture, engineering and other related streams, it is important that they study in specialized fields within the scope of built environment. It is this gap that we aim to bridge and provide the industry with a workforce that is well-trained and equipped to meet the necessary requirements at a global stage.”

RICS and Amity University entered into a collaboration in 2013 to open schools for specialized undergraduate and postgraduate courses in real estate, construction and the infrastructure sector. The school was set up to churn out job ready graduates with specialised knowledge of real estate and construction sectors. A chartered qualification signifies that the professional works to the highest industry standards. This chartered qualification is given to built environment sector professionals based on their educational background, professional work experience and demonstrated acumen in pre-determined set of globally benchmarked competencies. Today, the school has earned a track record of 100% placement (consecutively in 2015 and 2016) with students placed in India’s premier organisations like DLF Limited, Lodha Group, Cushman & Wakefield and JLL India to name a few. 

Dr Aseem Chauhan, Chancellor, Amity University said, “Mumbai is an important region for us. It is the most expensive real estate market in the country and some of the top real estate and construction companies are based here. Our Noida experience has reaffirmed our belief in the high demand for specialized professionals in the built environment sector. We are thrilled that our Noida campus has grown from 150 students in 2013 to over 1,300 students now. We hope we will be able to replicate the success of our Noida campus in Mumbai as well.”

With the launch of the Mumbai campus, RICS School of Built Environment aims to reach out to professionals and students across key cities in West India. Some of the prime markets, in addition to Mumbai, include Pune, Nashik, Nagpur and Aurangabad in Maharashtra as well as the top cities of Gujarat including Ahmedabad, Surat and Vadodara. 

Prof. Jagadish K Math, Dean, RICS School of Built Environment, Mumbai said, “The Noida campus has set a benchmark for us especially with a track-record of 100% placement. The Western region is no different from other parts of the country when it comes to the lack of qualified professionals in the real estate and construction industries. I am happy that we are making a beginning here today and I am sure we will be able to help the industry inch closer to bridging the much talked about skill gap. Curriculum has been developed keeping in mind the market requirements; a curriculum that will come into practice and not remain theoretical. Admissions have begun with immediate effect and we hope to reach full capacity for the first batch of 2017 soon.“

The launch of the school also coincided with RICS’ conference titled “The Turning Point of Built Environment in the perform or perish economy”. Hon’ble Union Minister of Railways, Shri Suresh Prabhu joined the conference as  Chief Guest on video-call in the presence of senior industry leaders including Mr Neeraj Bansal, KPMG; Abhishek Goenka, Partner and Leader, Tax and Regulatory Services – Bangalore – PWC; Mr Saacketh Chawla MRICS, Deputy Managing Director - India, Colliers International; Mr Anshul Jain FRICS, Managing Director – India, Cushman & Wakefield; Mr Anuj Puri, Country Chairman, JLL India and Mr Anshuman Magazine FRICS, Chairman, India and South East Asia, CBRE to name a few. 

RICS SBE has MoUs with University of Salford, UK (2013); Texas A&M University (USA, 2015), Ulster University (2016), London South Bank University, RMIT University, University of San Diego. Exchange programs are offered where students can study in one semester in some of these universities, reputed for their built environment education. As a member of UN PRME (Principles for Responsible Management Education), RICS SBE stands by ethics and sustainability in its endeavor to educate young minds. 

About RICS: RICS is a global professional body. We promote and enforce the highest professional qualification and standards in the development and management of land, real estate, construction and infrastructure. Our name promises the consistent delivery of standards – bringing confidence to the markets we serve. The work of our professionals creates a safer world: we are proud of our profession’s reputation and we guard it fiercely. RICS offers a wide range of executive education & training solutions for real estate and construction professionals as well as employers. RICS School of Built Environment, Amity University and its faculty are the delivery partners for such training programs.

www.rics.org | 

About RICS SBE : RICS School of Built Environment (RICS SBE), Amity University, is an industry led academic institution which delivers specialized undergraduate and post graduate to students aspiring to work within real estate, construction & infrastructure sector. It serves as a centre for education, training, research and technical guidance. Set up in 2013, RICS SBE is supported by leading real estate, construction & infrastructure firms as well as the Ministry of Urban Development, GoI. The first campus of the school is located at Amity University’s Noida campus and has nearly 1500 students enrolled. www.ricssbe.org