Project management gathers momentum as infrastructure grows

Over eight years ago, engineering and construction major Larsen and Toubro (L&T) decided to join hands with the Shailesh J Mehta School of Management at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay. The purpose was designing a programme in project management to bridge the human resource (HR) gap in the industry.

The industry however, refused to endorse this idea. “We could not have gone ahead with the programme putting the entire burden on L&T to recruit our students,” says an official from Shailesh J Mehta School of Managment.

L&T then decided to venture on its own and formed the L&T Institute of Project Management in Vadodara, Gujarat last year to train its 29,000 strong workforce.

Industry sources say Hero Honda, Punj Llyod, Bharti Airtel and TVS Motors are looking to follow the L&T format. “Project management is never taught in any school, including the premier B-schools in the country where the focus is typical management subjects. So companies have to find a way to design their own curriculum and train their executives,” says professor Krishna Moorthy, Dean, L&T Institute of Project Management.

Industry players say the infrastructure industry at present is heavily depended on international talent. There is a shortage of project managers, engineering, procurement and construction contractors and technology innovation in the industry.

Project Management Institute, a not-for-profit association for project management profession says the current estimated demand for project management professionals in India is 1 million annually.

The Eleventh five year plan (2007-12) estimates that $514 billion worth of investment is planned to flow into the infrastructure environment. Due to time and cost overruns, annual loss to the government in any public sector infrastructure project is pegged at Rs 48,923 crore.

Infrastructure which is expected to grow to 9 per cent of GDP attracts less than 10 per cent of project management professionals while IT sector which constitutes 5 per cent of the GDP attracts nearly 50 per cent of project management professionals in India which is due to client led demand. Outsourcing and revenue from overseas clients with demanding standards is a key factor.

“Projects these days are becoming large and complex with an average budget of Rs 600 crore. We need human resource capital at all levels to address needs of these projects. We need more specialised education institute rather than IITs and IIMs,” says Mangesh Korgaonker, Director General, National Institute of Construction Management and Research (NICMAR).

NICMAR which was set up in 1983 at Pune, Maharashtra, was established by the Indian construction industry.

“Infrastructure industry is by far one of the largest employer today with 3.2 crore people employed with it. But at the rate which it is growing, we would need double this workforce in the next seven years. So qualified professionals are the need of the hour,” says Korgaonker.

To seek admission into any of the institutes which conduct a post graduation programme in project management, students need an engineering degree. Institutes also accept CAT, MAT, GMAT, GATE and XAT scores. Graduates can expect to earn between Rs 5 and Rs 24 lakh per annum, says Korgaonker.