HYDERABAD, INDIA: "Project Management is not only for achieving business results but also for transforming the nation," said V Srinivasa Rao, chairman, Project Management India Conference 2009.

Addressing the delegates of Project Management Conference on the theme ‘Unleash the Power of Project Management for a Better Tomorrow’ here on Friday evening, he said India requires one million qualified project managers to build next-generation community that takes India to the zenith.

Rao said leadership, innovation and globalization are not new for India. India has a rich heritage of intellectuals and this intellectuals/natural talents need to be awakened with proper guidance and right projects to build a better tomorrow. Rao observed that projects act as catalysts and change agents and play a vital role in national movement to build “a better tomorrow”.

Giving examples of eminent personalities in India, Rao said the most successful project in the world is “freedom fight in India through satyagraha” which was done by the father of our nation, Mahatma Gandhi, which resulted in our living independent in India today.

Our aspiration is to use project management has a great tool to build a better India and the conference urged the delegates to build next generation community to build India, which will take us to next level.

Rao further added, project management is not only for improving business results but also for transforming the nation as a whole to improve the quality of people's lives.

Welcoming the delegates of the conference Raj Kalady, managing director, PMI India said project management should be part of every organization and the conference aims to address the needs of project management in an organization and also enables individual to network with more than 700 delegates to learn, to network and have fun.

Delivering his inaugural keynote on transformation of auto sector and leadership lessons, Jagadish Khatter, former managing director, Maruti Udyog Limited, and founder of Carnation Auto said, project management should be the DNA of each and every organization, which enables to execute and process the work flow in easier manner.

He added that project management is not taught in colleges and emphasized the need to make it compulsory as part of curriculum.

Commitment, leadership and initiative are the key areas in project management apart from motivation. It also includes strategic planning, resource allocation, financial management, and communication. The best example for this would be the Indian automobile industry, which is becoming the fastest growing automobile market in the world and we would be the hub of small car in the world in the coming years.

Delivering the keynote address on project management as a strategic competency, Peter Monkhouse, Director at Large, PMI said project management is a unique disciple of its own and strategic planning of project management is required to execute the projects in simpler way. He added, according to a recent PMI study, 20 million people worldwide work on project teams, full-time or part-time.

Terming project management as one of the most challenging, rewarding careers in the world, he added that project management is a strategic competency for results, performance, accountability, execution of new efforts and strategic plan, transfer of new knowledge to operations.

Steven Fahrenkrog, vice president, regional development, PMI, USA, said India has a huge talent and we need to effectively use the talent in the field of project management. PMI membership in India 20 years ago was 20, whereas today it has over 12,000 members with seven chapter spread around India.

He added, as IT transformed business, it became a major field for project management itself.

PMI Distinguished Project Award

Laser & Turbo Limited (L&T) was awarded the Project Management Institute Distinguished award for the booster compressor platform project located off the coast of Mumbai, commissioned by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation.

This award recognizes and honors successful projects that have promoted management concepts, techniques, practices or theories through the effective application of project management.