Project Management in Developing Countries — A Case of Indian Construction Industry

The projected size of the Indian construction industry by 2022 was around US$640 billion annually, mainly aided by government initiatives such as infrastructure projects and affordable housing schemes. In India, the construction industry is the second largest employment provider, with the participation of 16 percent of the country’s working population. The construction industry in India is fragmented, with large-sized firms focusing across all the construction segments, medium-size firms being involved in niche activities, and mostly small firms operating as subcontractors. In comparison with the developed countries, the Indian construction industry is widely recognized as a labor-intensive industry, and the deployment of modern machineries and techniques is limited. Further, most of the Indian construction firms are reluctant to follow the relevant regulations fully. The above aspects play an influencing role in Indian construction firms’ project management approach. The current chapter portrays an overview of the Indian construction industry. It covers the status of construction workers, status of Indian project performance, and the efforts made to improve them. In addition, the practices followed by the Indian construction industry in the key project knowledge areas such as project integration management, project scope management, project resource management, project communication management, project risk management, project procurement management, project stakeholder management, and leadership are also described.