As India’s private capital expenditure cycle shows clear signs of revival, Manish Garg, CEO of Interarch, a major Indian provider of turnkey pre-engineered steel building (PEB) solutions, shares his perspective on the evolving demand environment, the growth of pre-engineered buildings, sustainability imperatives, skill challenges, and what the upcoming Union Budget needs to deliver to support India’s next phase of manufacturing and infrastructure expansion.
1. How do you see the demand environment evolving, especially with private capex showing signs of a pick up?
India is clearly entering a new private capex upcycle, led by manufacturing, logistics and data-centric industries building fresh capacity after years of under-investment. Sustained government capex in core infrastructure has created the backbone, and private players are now adding warehouses, plants and value-added facilities along these corridors, including new-age industries such as renewables, EV Infra and semiconductors.
This is directly benefiting the steel-intensive, pre-engineered building (PEB) ecosystem. For Interarch, it is translating into a broad-based enquiry pipeline across auto and auto ancillaries, FMCG, engineering, electronics, data centres and 3PL’s. The common thread is a clear urgency to go live faster with scalable, compliant and future-ready industrial and warehousing assets – an area where high-quality PEB solutions offer a strong advantage.
2. What are your key expectations from the upcoming Union Budget to support India’s manufacturing and infrastructure build-out?
From the Union Budget, the sector would benefit from continued—and even higher—public capex on transport, logistics and industrial infrastructure, which has been a critical anchor for private investment. Recent years have seen strong growth in central government capital expenditure on core infrastructure, and sustaining this momentum is essential to crowd in private capex.
Specific expectations include incentives for faster creation of warehousing and logistics parks under initiatives such as Gati Shakti; sharper, performance-linked support and infrastructure status for sectors that drive large industrial facilities; and clear incentives for green, energy-efficient and prefabricated buildings. Measures that improve access to long-term, affordable finance for industrial developers and MSMEs setting up manufacturing facilities in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities would further unlock the next leg of India’s manufacturing and infrastructure build-out.
A crucial reform area is GST. At present, GST paid on many inputs for construction of industrial buildings is not eligible for input tax credit. Allowing ITC on such inputs for bona fide industrial and logistics facilities would encourage more organised players, lower the delivered cost of steel buildings for end users, enhance project IRRs and help shorten payback periods.
3. What are the most significant challenges the sector faces today and how can policy help address them?
The sector’s biggest challenges today include a shortage of skilled fabrication and erection manpower, intermittent cost spikes in key inputs such as steel. Skill gaps affect safe and high-quality execution, input volatility complicates planning for long-cycle projects, and regulatory bottlenecks can delay commissioning and weaken project IRRs.
Addressing the skill shortage is particularly critical. At Interarch, we have been investing in structured workforce development through CIDC-aligned training programmes to create a safer, more deployment-ready talent pool for steel and PEB construction. In addition, we run dedicated Post Graduate Engineer Trainee (PGET) and Graduate Engineer Trainee (GET) programmes to systematically train and develop early-career engineering talent for long-term capability building.
At a broader level, policy support can play a meaningful role through targeted skilling initiatives for construction trades, faster and fully digital single-window clearances for industrial and logistics projects, and incentives for adopting green, prefabricated and time-efficient construction methods in government and PPP projects. These measures would accelerate formalisation, productivity and quality across the sector.
4. Which customer segment — industrial, warehousing, infrastructure, or commercial — is driving the strongest growth right now?
Within our portfolio, industrial and warehousing continue to drive the strongest growth, supported by e-commerce, 3PL and manufacturing clients expanding across new regional hubs. Absorption of industrial and warehousing space in major cities is at record highs, and pre-engineered steel structures are increasingly the preferred format for Grade-A industrial and logistics parks.
Infrastructure-linked assets- such as national logistics hubs, dedicated freight corridors, expressway corridors- as well as specialised facilities like cold chains and data-centre shells, are emerging as important growth verticals. We are also seeing growing adoption from commercial and institutional users for factory-cum-offices, R&D centres, and healthcare or educational campuses, where Interarch’s turnkey design-to-delivery capability provides measurable time and quality advantages. This is making this a fast-growing application segment for PEB solutions.
5. What’s your strategy to deepen penetration in Tier-2 and Tier-3 industrial hubs, as they can be the next big areas of growth?
Interarch’s strategy focuses on building a stronger local footprint through regional sales offices and resident executives in high-potential industrial clusters. We are strengthening design and project support capabilities closer to customers to reduce turnaround times and improve engagement for MSME and mid-sized manufacturers. Case in point is the opening of new engineering offices in Bangalore and Cochin. Investment in digital lead management through CRM, fabricator training at our construction sites, in collaboration with CIDC, and partnerships with industrial developers will help improve conversion in these fast-growing markets.
6. How are global disruptions like commodity price volatility and logistics pressures impacting project timelines and order books in India?
Commodity price volatility and global logistics disruptions have made cost and timeline management significantly more complex for steel-intensive projects. While India is largely self-sufficient in steel availability, domestic prices remain closely linked to global markets, and sharp swings in steel prices or freight costs can materially alter project economics if not proactively managed.
Disclaimer: The views and recommendations expressed are those of individual analysts or broking firms, not Mint.
