India needs 400,000 project managers every year till 2020

Currently only 35,000 available who have knowledge or skill of project management

By 2020, India will need to generate 400,000 project management professionals (PMSs) every year in order to handle ongoing and future projects, especially in infrastructure and power, said Project Management Institute (PMI).

In order to meet such a requirement, PMI, a global nonprofit professional membership association for project management profession, is looking to tie up with institutes and government agencies for churning out such professionals.

"India is far behind from its actual requirement of PMIs. Against an annual requirement of 400,000, only 35,000 professionals are available who have knowledge or skill of project management. As a nonprofit organization we are working to increase force with public and privet organizations including government departments," said Raj Kalady, managing director of PMI India.

PMI has been assisting several institutes and departments for courses like 'Project Management in Public Services' which are imparted during induction as well as ongoing service for officials in various government agencies and the Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs).

Government agencies such as Gujarat Informatics Limited (GIL) (Dept. of Science and Technology) have also enhanced the project management capabilities of their project professionals using PMI's Global Standards. More training based on the standards is expected to roll out in the near future.

Kalady said, "We are working with around 66 academic institutes in India so that students those come out from these institutes will have knowledge of project management. Moreover, we are also provide training to professionals to develop their skill in this area."

PMI India has also signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Pandit Deen Dayal Petroleum University (PDPU) in Gandhinagar to build project management capabilities of the workforce (current and future) in Gujarat within the Institute.

According to PMI, trained professional is earning 25 per cent higher than untrained professionals across the globe. Awareness is now spreading amongst the project managers and more and more professionals are willing to get certificate from PMI. The institute certified about 1,000-1,100 professionals every year in India.

PMI is the world's leading not-for-profit professional membership for project management. While the chapters have been in existence earlier, PMI India commenced its operations in 2008 with the sole objective of advocacy for the profession of Project Management. The eight chapters are located at Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kerala, Pune, Chennai, and West Bengal. PMI works with various corporate giants, Central Government and State Government to help institutionalize standardized project management practices within its different departments that helps curb cost overruns and ensures timely completion of projects.