Bengaluru, Aug 22 (IANS): Real estate sector is the second-largest employer in India after agriculture and is slated to grow by more than 20 percent in the next decade, said Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramiah on Saturday.

"Real estate is the second most active sector attracting private equity investors in the last ten months," he said at the seventh convention of the National Association of Realtors (NAR), touted as India's biggest real estate convention.

Zeroing in on the state, Siddaramiah said Bengaluru is the fastest growing city and top real estate market in India beating other big cities like Mumbai, Hydeabad, and National Capital Region (NCR).

Leading real estate player Prestige Group's chairman Irfan Razack said that the real estate industry played a pivotal role in bringing hundred of large global MNCs like Amazon, JP Morgan and many others to come and set up shop in Bengaluru. Siddaramiah also said that while Bengaluru is known as the IT capital of India, this industry would not have grown without the important role played by the real estate industry.

"Bengaluru consumes eight million square feet of real estate space every year and produces 80,000 jobs," said Razack, adding that the government is the biggest beneficiary of the real estate growth in India as it earns a huge amount of revenue through stamp paper, registration, taxes and others.

As many as 1,200 delegates from various nationalities attended the NAR - India to deliberate on the crucial issues pertaining to real estate.

Realtors, developers, architects, lawyers, investors, venture capital firms, equity funds, chartered accountants, financial institutions, property valuers and others from across India participated in the event.

"It (NAR - India) also helped create a platform for over 26,000 companies and 1.2 million members across the globe to network seamlessly and do business," said its chairman Farook Mahmood.