Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) jointly with the Project Management Institute (PMI), a leading global association for project management professionals, submitted a three point agenda on project management to the Indian government at the conference on ‘Developing Policy Framework for effective adoption of project management in India’.
The three-point agenda highlights measures that should be adopted by the government to enhance national capability to deliver successful projects. The agenda points included setting up a project management office structure for the country, institutionalizing a project management maturity framework for India, and making project management training mandatory for personnel deployed on large projects.
The approach paper to the government further highlighted that whilst the setting up of PMOs will provide a much-needed structure, specific actions are also needed to incubate and proliferate best practices. In addition, the government of India was urged to develop and maintain a framework on the basis of which national awards and maturity level certifications can be introduced to recognize high performing organizations.
Key speakers at the event were Prof. T.C.A Anant, Chief Statistician of India and Secretary, MoSPI, Mr. Pankaj Jain, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation, Mr. Raj Kalady, Managing Director, PMI India and Dr. Sanjeevan Bajaj, Chief Executive Officer, FICCI Quality Forum apart from senior representatives from Industry, Academia and Public Sector Undertakings.
The underlying objective of the conference was to enhance knowledge and skills in the field and encourage project management practices in the country.
Commenting on the event, Mr. Kalady said: “Project Management serves as a powerful tool that has undeniably shown to help individuals and organizations successfully plan and accomplish many different objectives and projects around the world. Project Management has grown, matured and spread around the world to include a robust set of theories, principles, methodologies, practices, activities, professionals and organizations. In India, there exists a greater need for organizations to embrace project management to ensure seamless implementation of projects. In fact, a 2010 study by FICCI and PMI highlighted a positive relationship between adoption of project management practices and project performance. This conference has proved to be immensely crucial in driving awareness for adoption of project management in India.”
The conference focused on areas that included global best practices in the field, emerging areas for application of project management practices, hitherto neglected dimensions of project management, quality in project management, integrated framework for adoption of project management practices and the capability to better manage risks in projects.
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The audience at the conference included Policy makers, Project and Program Management Practitioners from Government and Industry, Certified Project Management Professional, Business leaders, Professionals from Academia, Multilateral Agencies & NGOs.
It is estimated that more than 550 major projects, each costing in excess of Rs. 150 crores are being implemented across key sectors such as road, highways, railways and power. There is an urgent need for capacity building of project management skills as it is estimated that India will require five lac qualified project managers in the immidiate future. Effective Project Management is critical to derive maximum benefit not only from infrastructure projects, but also from efforts directed at organizational excellence and change management. Project Management demands maintaining the fine balance between delivering on time, within budget while ensuring quality. At the same time, it also needs the project manager to be deliver consistently high performance under tremendous pressure.