Replicate China's project mgmt: Chidambaram

Concerned over huge cost and time over-runs of mega projects, Finance Minister P Chidambaram today said India should replicate China in project management to speed up infrastructure development.

Inaugurating a conference of 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 which are suffering from time and cost over-runs."

A total $60 billion worth of investments were locked up in about 243 projects which were suffering time and cost over-run, the minister said.

"If you look at bigger projects, there are 340 projects with a total investment of $40 billion which are suffering from time and cost over-runs," he said, adding road and railway sectors were "notorious" for delays.

Squarely blaming project managers for the delay in mega projects, Chidambaram said the country's infrastructure sector requires a large 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," Chidambaram said, adding the country lacks the requisite number of competent project managers needed for speedy infrastructure development.

Chidambaram took the Chinese example as the neighbour had outperformed India in terms of economic growth mainly on the strength of infrastructure.

"We have now realised the folly in our system. We are now conscious that time and cost is vital for projects," he said, adding if there is cost and time over-run now, the state has to share some of the responsibility.

Calling for a seven-step approach to project management, Chidambaram said it was only one aspect as the country also needed to improve its technical competency and greater spread of it to reinvent organisations.

For a resource-poor country like India, Chidambaram made it clear that the government did not have time and money to waste, as it had to take up major social projects.

Referring to major upcoming projects in power, telecom, road, railways and social schemes, he said "these cannot be achieved unless we bring a project management approach."

He said the finance ministry had 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 said.