The Hindu Business Line : `Emulate Chinese model in project management'

(From left) The Union Minister of State for Statistics and Programme Implementation, Mr Oscar Fernandes, the Union Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, Congress leader, Dr Karan Singh, and the Chairman & Managing Director of ONGC, Mr Subir Raha, at the 19th International Project Management Association (IPMA) World Congress in the Capital on Sunday.

New Delhi , Nov. 13

WITH a majority of infrastructure projects in the country facing time and cost overrun, the Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, today said India needed to look at the Chinese model for executing mega projects.

Inaugurating a conference of the International Project Management Association, he said: "Time and cost overrun has become endemic. There are about 620 projects each with an investment of over Rs 20 crore that are facing time and cost overruns."

"If you look at bigger projects, there are 340 projects with a total investment of about $40 billion that are suffering from time and cost overruns," he said, adding that the roads and railway sectors were notorious for delays.

Blaming the project managers for the delays in most mega projects, Mr Chidambaram said the country's infrastructure sector required a number of competent project managers.

India has 450 certified project managers and that too at the D-level whereas China has 6,000 such managers at various levels. China is planning to train 6,00,000 project managers to cater to the needs of its infrastructure.

"We have to take a leaf from China's project management," Mr Chidambaram said, adding that China had outperformed India in terms of economic growth mainly on the strength of its superior infrastructure.

"We have now realised the folly in our system. We are now conscious that time and cost is vital for projects," he said.

Seven-step approach: Calling for a seven-step approach to project management, Mr Chidambaram said that improving the pace of implementation of mega projects was only one aspect and that the country also needed to improve its technical competency and greater spread of IT.

For a developing country like India, he said the Government does not have time and money to squander, as it has to take up major social projects like National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme, National Rural Mission for spreading healthcare facilities to villages and the Rural Electrification scheme.

Referring to major upcoming projects in power, telecom, road, railways and social schemes, he said the targets might not be achieved unless project management methods were upgraded.

He said the Finance Ministry has initiated an Outcome Budget, which would translate the financial expenditure numbers provided in the general Budget into physical numbers.

"Now, we will not ask (various ministries) whether they have spent the money but also ask whether they have achieved the physical target," he added.

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