Blazing A Trail In Infrastructure Administration Training In India

Infrastructure and Financial Advancement

The Planning Fee has established an formidable double-digit countrywide economic development amount Environmental consultancy in the course of the eleventh Five-Year System. How can we go about pursuing this tall get? You can find now a normal consensus the remedy lies largely in the development of top quality infrastructure - physical, social and economic. How the Interstate Highway Procedure introduced because of the Eisenhower administration inside the '50s assisted generate a far more cell and vastly wealthier The usa is currently famous. Again dwelling, in India, we've got the common case of the Grand Trunk Highway, designed with the 16th Century ruler, Sher Shah Suri, to promote trade. A 2000 km stretch on the Grand Trunk, linking 6 Indian states, nevertheless functions because the backbone of business prosperity across India.

Quite a few studies while in the past have demonstrated that the distribute of rural infrastructure assists economic growth and potential customers to the decrease in poverty. According into the Rural Infrastructure Report, just lately brought out because of the NCAER, development of rural infrastructure includes a five-fold affect within the overall economy. Fantastic infrastructure results in far better access to work and presents even further earning options; will increase production efficiency; presents use of formerly inaccessible commodities and providers; helps citizens save time and, thereby, include by themselves a lot more in effective actions; and enhances the wellness and actual physical ailment on the rural populace.

Infrastructure-centric Governance

Economic liberalization heralded the beginning of the new era of infrastructure-centric governance in India. The government is now putting in place a clear and independent regulatory framework to the infrastructure sector, primarily based on global very best tactics. A committee continues to be constituted beneath the chairmanship from the Prime Minister, to intently watch the progress in all important infrastructure tasks, with a quarterly basis. A Viability Gap Grant Scheme has actually been instituted for supporting infrastructure initiatives (like electric power, roads, ports, airports, railways, water source & urban transport) which, despite being economically viable, are financially unviable. A Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), called the India Infrastructure Finance Corporation Limited (IIFC), continues to be set up to lend funds with longer term maturity to commercially viable initiatives in infrastructure sectors, including assignments which become viable after receiving viability gap funding from the federal government. Comprehensive Model Concession Agreement (MCA) Frameworks for Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) are either set up or being formulated for that Highway, Seaport & Airport sectors. These MCAs, centered on internationally accepted principles and finest methods, unbundle risks and costs, and allocate them to your party very best suited to manage them. Rail container movement, so far monopolised through the public sector entity, CONCOR, is thrown open to competition, making private sector entities eligible for owning and operating container trains.

Today, the sectoral policies at the national, regional & local levels are being developed around 'touchstone' principles, like: (1) Efficient use of existing assets and optimal allocation of additional resources, (2) payment for companies, (3) equitable contractual structures, (4) clear process of procurement, (5) fair regulatory framework, (6) enabling institutional infrastructure, and (7) sustainable incentives and concessions.

New Demands on Infrastructure Administration

As path-breaking concepts, frameworks and methodologies are being evolved, at the countrywide, regional and local levels, especially within the critical facets of infrastructure administration such as financing, contracting and regulation, an Infrastructure Manager today needs to have a variety of skills: ? Marketing, business improvement and financial administration skills for mobilizing and administering project resources. ? Engineering and technical skills for ascertaining the technological soundness of the project. ? Skills in Participatory Learning & Action (PLA), Information, Education and learning & Communication (IEC), and Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) to evaluate the location-specific social, financial & environmental affect in the project. ? Organizational & capacity-building skills to ensure the sustainability of your project.

Need for Holistic Training

With a huge investment requirement with the get of about Rs.14.5 trillion ($320 billion), over the next six years, and a spate of new investor-friendly policies from the offing, Infrastructure is all established to become the most 'happening' sector of the Indian economy. The immediate requirement from the Indian economy is a pool of holistically trained domain-ready infrastructure managers, who possess the ability and grit to (a) convert the huge investments into good quality infrastructure facilities; (b) upgrade the existing infrastructure set-up; and (c) sustain high infrastructure service levels by adopting greater administration procedures. Be it physical, social, economic or environmental infrastructure, the demand for such holistically trained managers is going to be unprecedented.

A Trail-blazer

In response to this crying need for domain-ready managers the first-ever comprehensive Post-Graduate Diploma in Infrastructure Administration (PGDIM) Programme during the country was launched in August 2005. The programme, offered by Karnataka's prestigious Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU), is being conducted with the School of Management for Infrastructure and Progress Strategies - India (MINDS), at Bangalore. MINDS is a Division from the Centre for Symbiosis of Technology, Environment & Management (STEM), a professional research group with nearly two decades' standing in Progress Research, Consultancy & Training.

The PGDIM is a one-year full-time programme for graduates in all disciplines of engineering and post-graduates in other disciplines. The curriculum is designed with a holistic approach to Infrastructure Management covering Project Management; Marketing; Contract Management; Infrastructure Finance; ICT Applications; GIS Applications; Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA); Legal & Regulatory Environment; and Emerging Paradigms. The programme participants also work on live projects being implemented by reputed infrastructure organizations, and gain hands-on professional experience.

Primarily based within the encouraging experience of running the unique PGDIM Programme, VTU is commencing a fresh format two-in-one PG Programme in Infrastructure Management from the academic calendar year 2007-08. Very modular in structure, this innovative programme delivers for a 'Dual Qualification Option' whereby a student receives a Post-Graduate Diploma in Infrastructure Management (PGDIM) on successfully completing the first yr and also an MBA Degree in Infrastructure Administration, after the second 12 months. One exceptional feature in the Dual Option PG Programme is that it is a highly modular arrangement whereby a student needs to make up his/ her mind only midway or even at the end in the one-year PGDIM whether to move on towards the second calendar year with the MBA.

The second calendar year (MBA level) comprises two semesters and includes an advanced Internship by way of extended project assignments. An additional feature with the MBA is that it also delivers for specialization in areas such as Urban Governance & Management, IT Infrastructure Administration, Communication & transportation, Ability & Energy, Overall health, Training, Water & Sanitation, and PPP.

Both the PG Diploma and the MBA Degree are awarded with the VTU.

Great Corporate Response

The first batch students gained hands on experience through Corporate Exposure & Learning (CEL) Internships at leading public/ private infrastructure organisations, including GMR Hyderabad Global Airport Ltd (GHIAL), Hubli-Dharwar Municipal Corporation (HDMC), IDECK, Kristal Group, TCE Consulting Engineers Ltd and UN Habitat. The study topics included: (i) Financial Risk Analysis inside the context of airport infrastructure administration; (ii) Installation of Effective Public Grievance Redressal and Emergency Response Systems (PGRS &ERS) in Municipal Environment; (iii) Urban Arranging & Renewal; (iv) Preparing and Scheduling for Infrastructure Growth; (v) Professional Aspects of Electricity Business Consulting; (vi) Evaluation of UN-Habitat Programme on Drinking water for Asian Cities; (vii) Environmental Affect assessment for Setting up of Small Hydro Electrical power plants. Naturally, the first PGDIM Batch was welcomed with the industry and received a 100% final placement offer with attractive packages comparable to any emerging sector. The employers include DLF Group, IL&FS and Infrastructure Growth Corporation of Karnataka (IDECK).