sTRIVE final.pdf

problems and disputes and came to a
standstill after almost 70% investment. With
the change in management and other drastic
steps the project was completed thus
avoiding a huge loss to the exchequer. The
project management must be in the hands of
one who has stakes in the project. The stakes
could be either in the form of
investment/profit or in terms of future
growth in the organisation or in terms of
rewards/punishment. Quite often in some
organisations the project job is considered
second to operations projects and persons
who cannot prove themselves in production
are entrusted with projects. While the results
in Production management are visible over a
short term, the results of Project
Management are generally visible only in
the long run.
Strive: Having rich experience of working
in both public and private sector steel
companies, could you please let us know
the differences in both?
Mr. J L Aggarwal: There is a vast
difference in the working of Public and
Private Sector. Basically the Public sector
has to function within a strictly defined set
of rules and procedures and there is no scope
for mid course corrections/ changes which
according to me are sometimes very
essential for the overall success of the
project. In private sector there is more
flexibility and freedom of decision-making.
Just to elaborate, the tendering process in
public sector has to strictly follow the
process of lowest tender whereas in private
sector the project management is free to
negotiate with all tenderers and are thus able
to draw the maximum price advantages.
Even during the execution process there is
lot of flexibility in private sector whereas in
public sector, the rules and procedure restrict
the project manager from taking decisions
which are necessary in the interest of the
project.
Strive: Could you please share with us the
recent trends or practices in steel industry?
Mr. J L Aggarwal: As I mentioned earlier,
Steel Industry is a very capital intensive
industry where the return on investment is
not immediate. That is why post
independence the steel industry was initially
set up in the public sector where the
objective was not exactly profit but to
prepare a base for the national development
and for the manufacturing sector. However
with the passage of time it became necessary
to make the industry competitive and to run
it as a profitable venture. This has seen
many changes in trends and practices
namely,
1. Higher capacities of units to get the
benefits of economies of scale.
2. To reduce dependence on manpower
through extensive automation and
computerization.
3. Changes in technology to take care of
the environmental norms.
4. To produce special steels instead of the
garden varieties for better profitability.
5. Technology change to use low quality
ores and other scarce raw materials.
6. Continuous pressure on cost reduction
through technology, innovation,
automation etc.
Strive: What are the benchmarks and
standards followed in Steel Industry?
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NOVEMBER 2012