India’s engineering services exports have expanded nearly eightfold over the past decade, reaching $13.77 billion in 2024-25. The growth highlights the sector’s increasing role in trade, yet highlights the need for a formal regulatory framework to support skilled employment and public safety standards.
India’s engineering services exports have risen almost eightfold over the past decade, reaching $13.77 billion in 2024-25 from $1.77 billion in 2014-15, according to a NITI Aayog report that points to the sector’s growing role in the country’s trade in professional services. The report said the increase reflects a compound annual growth rate of 22.8% over the ten-year period, based on Reserve Bank of India data on invisible trade.
By contrast, imports of engineering services were broadly flat, inching up from $1.59 billion to $1.73 billion over the same period. NITI Aayog also said engineering remains a major source of skilled employment in India, with the profession accounting for 67.2% of all technical degrees awarded between 2015 and 2022, according to the India Employment Report 2024 cited in the study.
The report said the profession’s rapid expansion has not been matched by a formal regulatory structure. Unlike architecture or medicine, engineering does not have a comprehensive statutory framework in India, and repeated efforts to bring in an Engineers Bill have yet to be enacted by Parliament. NITI Aayog argued that a central legal framework for engineers working in construction and infrastructure could help set minimum standards, define ethical duties and create accountability mechanisms, particularly in areas tied to public safety.
The report also suggested treating architects and engineers as allied professionals to reduce ambiguity where their responsibilities overlap. That view echoes wider industrial trends showing strong external demand for Indian technical capabilities: engineering goods exports reached a record $116.67 billion in 2024-25, while software and services exports hit $222 billion, according to industry and trade data. LiveMint has also reported that electronics exports have grown rapidly, but NITI Aayog has urged a shift towards higher value addition rather than assembly-led expansion.
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