Evolving Project Planning in Infrastructure

Q1. You’ve managed planning, scheduling, costing and contract management across major infrastructure and metro projects. Could you briefly outline how your responsibilities evolved as you moved into senior planning leadership roles?

I began my career as a management trainee, where my role was largely centred on preparing smaller technical deliverables such as DPRs, DLRs, and similar reports. As I progressed into management-level positions, my responsibilities expanded to include independent preparation of project schedules, primarily using Primavera P6, after having worked earlier with MS Project.

Up to the AGM level, I was personally responsible for programme preparation. Even today, in certain situations, I continue to do so, largely because effective planning is closely linked to site experience. Without adequate exposure to site conditions, it becomes difficult to develop realistic programmes and budgets or to manage extensions of time, prolongation costs, claims, and variations effectively.

In addition to planning, I have managed Contract Management, MIS responsibilities, which have varied depending on the organisation. Currently, at the head office, I work with a small team, so I handle most planning activities myself. This covers scheduling, resource loading, physical and cost weightage, and quantity loading. By bringing all this data together in the programme,…