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InfraBlaze: The Infrastructure Summit, 2014

SCMHRD's Infrastructure Club organized its first Infrastructure Summit on the theme 'Mission Infrastructure: Road to Recovery' on Feb 22, 2014 to promote industry-academia interaction through panel discussions on challenges in Transportation, Energy and Urban sectors and Infrastructure Finance. Prof. Pratima Sheorey, Director, Symbiosis Centre for Management and Human Resource Development (SCMHRD), welcomed the gathering during the inaugural session. In her opening address, Dr.Vidya Yeravdekar, Principal Director, Symbiosis Society, stressed the importance of the MBA-Infrastructure Management (MBA-IM) programme for national development. MBA-IM at SCMHRD focuses on infrastructure planning, development, structuring, financing, risk management and implementation of infrastructure projects within the regulatory, policy and legal environment.

Mr. Amitabh Kant, CEO & MD, Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corp. (DMICDC) was the chief guest and keynote speaker at the event, which was attended by eminent personalities like Mr. V B Gadgil, MD & CEO, L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad) Ltd., Mr. Deep Mukherjee, Director, India Ratings, FITCH group, Mr.Reji Kumar Pillai, President, India Smart Grid Forum, Mr. Pradeep Sangal, GM, GVK, Mr.Pravin Kumar, GM, DFCCIL, Dr.IshwarHegde, VP, Suzlon, Mr.DharmeshDawda, India Operations Manager, MWH Global, Dr. R Hiremath, Director, Raj Group among others. The head of PMI-India announced the establishment of its first student chapter at SCMHRD.

In his keynote address, Mr. Amitabh Kant stressed the planning of new sustainable smart cities along the Delhi Mumbai freight corridor, which will provide thrust to manufacturing sector, creating jobs and opportunities for the growing young workforce of India. Feasibly structured infrastructure projects need to be delivered as a pre-requisite for these cities to act as engines of economic growth. He deliberated that India’s urbanization process should be such that there are no sprawling cities and urban infrastructure is driven by digital technology.

Some of the key takeaways from the interactive and thought-provoking panel discussions are worth-mentioning. Urban Infrastructure panel: Integrated approach to planning, finance, technology application, project structuring, execution and monitoring is necessary at the ULB level for sustainable project delivery. This is not possible without administrative reforms at the state and local government levels. Roads, Highways and Transportation panel: Coordination among different Central and State government departments for project clearances and institutionalization of rational and stable contract models is needed to secure the confidence of private players in infrastructure sector. Power and Oil & Gas panel: Redesigning of the distribution system and fair pricing should be given serious consideration for the financial sustainability of the sector. Infrastructure Finance panel: Financing is not an issue if the banks are ready to change their mindset towards infrastructure sector and project promoters can de-risk projects as much possible.