A short peek at our past performances of power sector indicate that during the last

three five year plans (8th, 9th and 10th), we have barely managed to achieve half
of the capacity addition that was planned. As we enter the third year of the 11th
five year plan, we have already seen slippages on the planned approx. 79 GW
capacity addition. Once we break the problem down and identify the bottlenecks,
we may be able to better understand the integration challenges that such large
projects pose. While there may be heavy dependencies on equipment suppliers and
challenges around logistics and work-front availability – with the right and timely
application of project management principles along the lifecycle of the project, one
can strive to achieve increased project completion against baselines. Certain best
practices around stakeholder management, integrated project and asset
development and interdependency mapping across various entities can help
improve overall project planning. Once we understand the practical implementation
challenges, various teams and people get aligned to the overall strategy, then the
delivery on our estimated plans becomes more of a reality. It is evident that the
deficit in power availability in India is a significant impediment to the smooth
development of the economy. In this context, bridging the gap in demand and
supply has become critical and consequently, large projects are being undertaken in
different segments of the sector; Generation, Transmission and Distribution. As
India has not witnessed such a large scale of implementation before, there is a need
to review and enhance project execution capabilities to help ensure targets are
met. This strongly necessitates employing a comprehensive project management
structure to address the major challenges of the power sector projects and to be
able to deliver them as per the planned targets.

India has a large road network of over 3.314 million kilometers of roadways (2.1
million miles), making it the third largest road network in the world. However, as of
2002 only 47.3% of the network consisted of paved roads, giving a huge scope of
improvement and growth. According to recent estimates by Goldman Sachs, India
will need to spend $1.7 Trillion USD on infrastructure projects over the next decade
to boost economic growth. In an effort to accomplish this, the Government of India
is attempting to promote foreign investment in road projects by offering financial
incentives such as toll rights to developers. One major factor to note here is that in
the past not even a single Road project failed to achieve financial closure. This
reflects the increasing readiness and confidence of the financiers to fund Road
Projects. An important musing by a participant at the Seminar was that funds are
available (with Rs28,00,000cr being the size of Banking Industry, which is expected
to grow at 20% per annum and with capital markets buoyant, the government could
raise money through dilution of stake in the PSUs), but an effective mechanism and
instruments need to be in place to tap the resources as well as good bankable
projects, which could infuse confidence in the lenders. Going ahead, we expect both
domestic as well as international funds to flow into the Sector to capitalise on the
upcoming lucrative opportunities in the Sector. Infrastructure companies skewed
towards the Road Segment and major beneficiaries of the proposed changes going
ahead. Overall, we expect substantial growth opportunities coming up for the Road
Infrastructure Sector and such growth would ensure higher ROEs for the players in
the Sector.

The world has been witness to the tremendous success of the Indian
telecommunications industry. From the onset, the sector has displayed enormous
potential and played an important role in developing the country’s economy. The
telecommunications industry has also been highly successful in promoting the
public agenda and driving inclusive growth. The success of the telecommunications
sector so far had been limited more or less to the urban areas. Over the last few
years, however, the Government as well as private players have been making a
concentrated attempt to replicate the successes achieved in urban areas to the
newer markets of rural India. While voice services have traditionally been the key
driver for the development of the sector, the industry is now at the threshold of the
next big shift and is poised to drive growth through other avenues. Broadband
connectivity is likely to open up newer markets while at the same time improve the
social and economic conditions of the lower penetrated areas. Mobile VAS is
expected to benefit all sections of society with relevant content being developed to
enhance businesses, provide financial assistance, and promote education and
healthcare for the masses. The relatively newer industries of telecom manufacturing
and research and development bring with them a plethora of employment
opportunities for all. The Government, recognizing the needs of the industry, has
announced many upcoming regulations that are expected to further grow the
industry. This proactive regulatory environment has had an extremely positive
impact and has heralded the next phase of development for the
telecommunications sector.