A Brief Appraisal and Analysis of Existing Practices in the Contracts of Infrastructure Projects of Indian Railways

Abstract

Railways occupy a prominent position in the infrastructure of India. Existing practices in the project management and infrastructure development with special reference to the Indian railways have been brought out with some details in this paper. Tendering phase is very important in the project construction and maintenance of major railway related works. The principles and practices in the public procurement of projects are examined and suitable improvements in the bidding evaluations are suggested. The success and failure factors of any project are analyzed with a view to understand the dynamics of project management in the Indian context. The system improvements which are the need of an hour to make the Indian railways a more viable and vibrant organization are suggested in detail. A preliminary study of the bidding models in the construction industry as practiced in the US and Canada have been brought out for comparison. The importance of ethics, integrity and work culture in the project management as essential component is underlined apart from fool proof tendering practices.
Keywords: Infrastructure, contracts and tenders, emerging practices, success attributes, system improvements