Planning, oversight key to infrastructure project delays
Report says the dearth of skilled project managers has the greatest influence on project delivery
Mumbai: Ineffective planning and monitoring are the biggest threats to infrastructure project delivery, according to a report released Tuesday by auditing and consulting firm KPMG and the Project Management Institute (PMI).
The ministry of statistics and programme implementation had asked for a study of the reasons for schedule and cost overruns in infrastructure projects.
The dearth of skilled project managers has the greatest influence on project delivery, the report said. Cost overruns are fuelled by frequent changes in design and weak procurement planning, which can be mitigated by adequate training and coaching of project managers, it said.
By 2022, the Indian infrastructure sector is likely to have a shortage of around 3 million project professionals including project managers, civil engineers, planners, surveyors and safety professionals, the report said. Increasing investment in training and mentoring to develop the requisite skillset among professionals deployed across various departments is an imperative, it added.
“There are several external and internal factors contributing to the delay of projects," said Neeraj Bansal, partner, real estate and constructions, KPMG India. “Though the control over external reasons is limited, internal reasons can be curtailed at the project level with improvement in project planning, delivery and monitoring capabilities along with better risk management."
Also, programme and project management office (PMO) concepts can be effectively deployed to overcome these challenges, Bansal said.
Delays in land acquisition and site handover are the primary reasons for schedule overruns in the pre-execution phase, according to the report. Also, multiple regulatory approvals needed from several agencies leads to delays in construction, the report said.
“It is a known fact that a large number of infrastructure projects in India have been delayed due to regulatory clearances, environmental issues and problems related to land acquisition," said Raj Kalady, managing director, Project Management Institute, India.
“Given the critical role of infrastructure in ensuring a sustained growth trajectory in India, it is imperative to identify the core issues affecting the timely and successful completion of infrastructure projects and chalk out initiatives that need to be acted upon in the short as well as the long term," he said.
The report assumes significance as the 12th Five Year Plan (FY2012-17) has promised significant investment in the sector to bridge the infrastructure deficit. The plan is to double the spending to $1 trillion through 2016-17 with 50% of the funding to be met by the private sector.
The study analysed the major reasons for time and cost overruns in nine sectors—power, petroleum, coal, steel, railways, roads and highways, civil aviation, ports and shipping, and telecom.
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