THE DELHI METRO : Effective

Project Management in the Indian

BY -
KASHISH CHAUHAN (20202070)
HIMANSHI KAPASIYA (20202185)
 OVERVIEW

The Government of India (GOI) and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD)

formed the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (DMRC) in May 1995 to provide a rail-based transportsystem

that would alleviate Delhi’s ever growing transport congestion and vehicular pollution.

The construction of the Delhi Metro started on October 1, 1998, and the first Delhi Metro was inaugurated on
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December 24, 2002. DMRC is responsible not only for construction of the system but also for its operation

and maintenance. DMRC has expanded its reach beyond Delhi as well, serving as the project consultant for

a wide variety of metro and monorail projects across India and beyond, including projects in Dhaka

(Bangladesh), Jakarta (Indonesia), and in Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Pune, and a number of other Indian

cities. Moreover, the Delhi Metro is clean, punctual, and well maintained, a point of pride among Delhiites

that showcases aspirations for a modern transportation system.

Delhi, the capital of India, and a key political, cultural, and commercial hub, is one of the fastest-growing

cities in the world. The population of the city is expected to reach 23 million by 2021 from the 3
current estimated population of 13 million people. Population growth led to expansion beyond the core

of the city, but the absence of rail options pushed transportation to the roads. As the population grew,

traffic increased, along with associated problems such as traffic jams, pollution, and accidents.

These problems were exacerbated by poor drainage systems and flooding on some stretches of road.
 Development Challenge

Delhi’s roads have faced problems such as congestion, pollution, and increasing numbers of
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automobile accidents since the mid 1990s. To improve both the quality and availability of mass

transport and to alleviate issues associated with Delhi’s congested roads, the GOI and GNCTD

sought an effective solution in the form of a nonpolluting rail-based mass transit system.
 Addressing Delivery
Challenge

This section elaborates how DMRC addressed some of the delivery challenges
recognized in similar large scale and complicated infrastructure projects, such
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as :
(a) complicated project design,
(b) overall institutional arrangements,
(c) challenges in imparting or acquiring new skills needed,
(d) identification and selection of appropriate stakeholders for engagement,
(e) challenges stemming from unviable project financing arrangements.
 1. Project design
In India, major infrastructure projects are often stalled because of lack of funds, political interference, lack
of professionalism and accountability, property disputes, and corruption. To preempt these kinds of
problems prior to the commencement of the project, the DMRC attempted to put in place effective
systems to ensure the smooth progress of the project. To ensure strong leadership, Elattuvalapil
Sreedharan, a technocrat with a long history of service in the Indian Railways (IR) and a reputation for
completing projects on time and within budget, was appointed as the chairman of DMRC. Second,
collaboration and cross-learning with Japanese partners was made an integral part of the project design.
DMRC engineers were encouraged to learn tunneling technologies, management ethos, and value for time,
as well as other management techniques from their Japanese counterparts.
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2. Institutional setting
The DMRC board of directors has absolute freedom to make technical decisions and depends on the
government principally for funding and land acquisition. This arrangement has proven effective in reducing
interference from politicians and bureaucrats. For example, in the initial phase, the first key task DMRC
faced was to select a general consultant to provide a team of foreign and Indian experts contracted by
DMRC who would help to implement the project, working on project design, contract tender, and
supervising construction. A Japanese firm, Pacific Consultants International, and its joint venture partners
were found to be most technically qualified for the job, and DMRC issued an acceptance letter.
3. Skill transfer
To strengthen its own technical expertise and human resources, DMRC made sure that its staff members
were central to the project and did not rely overly on general consultants. Beginning in phase 1 with a view
toward implementing subsequent phases, DMRC was able to reduce its dependence on external experts in
phase 2 by deploying its personnel in consulting services and allowing them to have relevant technical
experience from the start. Moreover, DMRC established a training institute.

4. Stakeholder coordination
The importance of effective stakeholder coordination is apparent in the need to coordinate with other
agencies during construction of underground sections of the metro. The ground had to be excavated, but
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beforehand a complicated network of water supply and sewerage pipes needed to be shifted or diverted.
Cooperation and communication with other government agencies in charge of these utilities were necessary
to get their buy-in and participation. In some cases, these other agencies were reluctant to cooperate, and this
delayed construction in stretches of ground utility infrastructure because utilities could not be shifted. To solve
this problem, instead of requesting that utility agencies shift pipes and wires, DMRC offered to take the
responsibility for the work. This approach allowed DMRC to retain control of this work while also involving other
agencies through the preparation and submission of detailed plans for approval. To increase collaboration,
DMRC at times recruited retired personnel from utility agencies to meet with their former colleagues. The
result was that work speed increased and that DMRC was able to ensure that disturbances to the public were
minimized.
5. Project finance
Globally, most urban metro projects were financially unviable because the fares could not be fixed solely on a
commercial basis. If fares were set too high, passenger numbers would remain low as some users
were priced out, thus defeating the very purpose of setting up the system. Therefore, the concerned
governments generally bore the capital costs of a metro system. To avoid such a situation, the Delhi metro
project was conceived as a social sector project. This allowed a significant portion of the project cost to be
funded through a soft loan provided by the Japanese government through JICA (former Japan Bank for
International Cooperation). The financial loan extended by JICA to the project, which made up 60 percent of
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funding required for phase 1.1 The rest was contributed by GOI and GNCTD through equity. Also, over the years,
DMRC had earned a substantial amount through consultancy and real estate business and through external
projects. DMRC's earnings through traffic operations was Rs 3,897 crore in 2019-20. It fell to Rs 877 crore in
2020-21 but improved to Rs 1,976 crore in 2021-22.
 lesson learned

A strong leadership and vision are key to successful implementation of such large and
complicated infrastructure projects. Much of the credit for the success of Delhi metro
project goes to one man, Elattuvalapil Sreedharan, the first managing director of the
DMRC. He was a key agent of change with a well-deserved reputation for fearlessness
and incorruptibility. At DMRC, he created a work culture of punctuality, integrity,
professional competence, and social responsibility.
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Another key aspect worth highlighting is DMRC’s taking responsibility for the diversion of
utility infrastructure, which relied on good stakeholder coordinator and buy-in from
other agencies. In other projects, large-scale infrastructure implementers can use a
similar technique of taking on the responsibility for the shift of utilities, thereby
eliminating unwanted time loss in construction. Furthermore, by reducing the time
required for civil works, the delhi metro project ultimately reduced the time the public
was inconvenienced