Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the determinants of profitability in the construction industry in India collectively and for each of the sub-segments, construction engineering, construction materials, and real estate management and development, individually. Study Design: The research design involved the extraction of construction companies listed on the NSE from the Bloomberg financial database. The secondary data of 212 firms (100 in construction engineering, 48 in construction materials, and 64 in real estate management and development) was collected from the Prowess IQ database for a 42-year period (1980–2022). An unbalanced dynamic panel data regression model is developed using profitability (return on total assets) as a dependent variable. Tangibility, liquidity, size, leverage, and efficiency of the firm are identified as firm-specific independent variables. Two macroeconomic variables, i.e., growth in GDP and the wholesale-price index (WPI), are also used as independent variables. Initially, the model is tested for stationarity, multicollinearity, and heteroscedasticity, and finally, the coefficients are estimated using Arellano Bond dynamic panel data regression and their significance over the dependent variable is ascertained. Findings: The results suggest that the profitability of the construction industry collectively is positively driven by tangibility, liquidity, efficiency, size and GDP growth, whereas, leverage and wholesale-price inflation affect it negatively. The determinants vary for each of the segments individually. Originality: This research contributes to the literature by examining the determinants of profitability in the construction industry in India using a large sample of 212 firms over a 42-year period. A comparative analysis of the determinants of profitability in the different segments of the construction industry, namely, construction engineering, construction materials, and real estate management and development, is presented.