‘Policy deployment is the key to quick project implementation’

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: With the government likely to spend around $500 billion for infrastructure development in the next five years, there are a lot of opportunities in project management in the country. Last month, US-based Project Management Institute (PMI), a leading membership association for the project management professionals, opened its office in India to support the growing base of project management professionals. India has the third largest PMI membership, after the US and Canada, with seven chapters and over 14,000 members. Founded in 1969, the institute has globally more than 2,60,000 members in 170 countries and provides members access to knowledge, skills and educational support and networking opportunities needed to drive business results through project management, programme management and portfolio management. FE’s Saikat Neogi talks to Gregory Balestrero, chief executive officer of Project Management Institute, to find out the reasons for the institute’s focus on India, the challenges and opportunities in infrastructure sector. Excerpts:

The biggest bottleneck in the infrastructure sector in India is the lack of trained manpower. How can it be addressed?

It is not only India, which is suffering from lack of skill sets. Managing talent is a global problem. The Gulf countries are projecting a shortfall of six million people in the sector in the next five years. It’s the same in China. So, demand for skill professionals is a problem through out Asia. India will have to compete for skilled labour and this means higher salaries for trained manpower.

How can the gap be filled?

India produces more number of engineers, scientists and technologists than any other countries in the world. But they are graduating without the skills necessary to manage critical projects. So, we should work with universities to establish courses in project management. We are also going to work with IITs and IIMs to set up graduate and executive programmes in project management. The second aspect is to work with existing engineers and technologist to train them and certify them in project management. This is where we come in as registered education providers.

How critical is infrastructure project management for India’s growth?

Whether it is in the power sector, healthcare, education, transportation, distribution or manufacturing, infrastructure is critical . Manufacturing needs rapid roads, highways and airports to move products to other countries. Our office in India will focus on the infrastructure community not only in the construction sector, but also in the government like the ministry of urban development, ministry of civil aviation and the Planning Commission to raise the importance of excellence in project management. We will show them the best practices that can be used to manage infrastructure projects in India.

What would be your focus areas in India?

Ministries and construction firms would be our number one focus. Our second focus area would be pharmaceuticals, which is one of the most rapidly growing areas in India. Thirdly, we will focus on continuing support to the IT sector. The sector is an ideal example of how projects should be done. We will also focus on the automobile sector, which is expanding rapidly, and finally aerospace, which is a critical link in the global supply chain. These five areas are crucial to us.

Why do infrastructure projects in India get delayed indefinitely?

There is the difference between policy formulation and deployment. There is a strong willingness to create aspirational goals in India. The five-year plan is an example. One of such goals in the current five-year plan is to provide about higher education to 15% of the country’s population by the end of 2015 . Now, policy deployment says we need 1,500 universities by that time. The question is: Is the country prepared to invest in those 1,500 universities? If not, then it is merely an aspirational goal. Similarly, the current plan projects the need for 78,000 megawatts of additional power into the grid in three years. But the projection at the best is that it would be 25,000 megawatts. You can blame it on insufficient gas supply or poor gas turbine or collapse of Enron, but those are risks associated with projects.

So, what should India do to speed up project implementation?

For India to really succeed, it has to talk about quick policy deployment all the time. So the key is policy deployment and not the fanfare of a five year plan. The ability to implement the plan makes all the difference. And that’s what the government needs to focus on. They need global standards to deploy projects, they need to hire people who are capable to manage projects efficiently and they need to integrate the projects.

What is the role of the private sector in implementing projects?

Industry has a big responsibility and we are going to work with them to improve the ability to manage projects in the country. The government should also do more to accelerate the pace of project implementation.

How is the problem of implementing projects in other countries?

I think every country is different. India is the largest democracy in the world and it gives the freedom to challenge the decisions on land acquisitions and pollution made by the government, which at times slows down projects. In China, these problems do not exist as it is a Communist country, which means they can execute projects much faster but with that come problems associated with pollution, displacement and human rights. For example, China constructs on an average two power plants per week, but they are not clean power plants. The result is that they are creating acid rains in Central parts of China and their crop output is diminished by as much as 30%.

What are the new areas in infrastructure sector that India should look at?

High-speed transport is the new growth opportunity in India and the Mumbai-Delhi corridor is a good example. Certainly, the railway system is an opportunity for improvement. The whole idea of integration of infrastructure and the high-speed transfer of products and services is necessary. We must have the best information technology because here we are talking about the largest and fastest of things.

The whole idea of integrating infrastructure and then high-speed transfer of goods and services are areas which the Indian infrastructure community should consider in the future.