Indian mega projects: good, bad and ugly: Professional management made the difference

27th September 2010
Indian mega projects: good, bad and ugly:  Professional management made the difference
Steve Fahrenkrog ( left) and Raj Kalady of the Project Management Institute briefing the media at Amby Valley, near Mumbai/Pune last week ( IndiaTechOnline photo)

A survey by the central Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation ( MOSPI) of over 600 large infrastructure projects taken up during India’s 11th Five Year Plan period( 2007-12) shows that 30 percent of them over ran their time frame while 20 percent exceeded the budgeted cost. The Ministry has been evangelising the deployment of professional project management practices to reduce such over runs -- a task in which it looks to agencies like the Project Management Institute to sensitise public and private agencies charged with delivering on some of the mega projects being undertaken in India.
A workshop for the media conducted recently by PMI discussed the success of some of these large projects – the Delhi Metro Rail; the Chandrayan moon mission of the Space department and the Brahmos missile project of the Indian defence R&D organization. Journalists and resource persons anchored by Raj Kalady, Managing Director, PMI ( India) and Steven Fahrenkrog, Vice President PMI, also discussed recent mega projects like the CommonWealth Games and the perceived public perception about the project planning ( or lack of such planning) of such enterprises.  Speakers  quipped that  the Japanese Just In Time ( JIT)  technology of project delivery  had somehow morphed in India to SHIT -- Some How In Time.

PMI is a not for profit membership association for the project management profession, with more than half a million members and credential holders in 185 countries. In India since 2008, with its HQ in Mumbai, PMI now has 7 chapters and more than 14,000 members in this country. A number of approved agencies impart training for PMI certifications in project and programme management. www.pmi.org 

September 27 2010