Case $3$: Project Delays

The Assam Gas Cracker Project conceived as part of the Assam Accord signed in $1985$ is yet to see the light of the day. It has been plagued by a host of problems starting from location to economic viability. Originally planned at Tengakhat, it was later shifted to a place called Lepetkata. The project is now being implemented by GAIL $($a Government of India enterprise$)$ as the lead promoter $(70\%$ share$)$ with another public enterprise OIL $(20\%$ share$)$ and the Government of Assam as minor partners. GAIL had to be brought in after India$$s largest private sector enterprise Reliance Industries backed out of the project saying that it was economically unviable. The land acquisition for the project $($as of mid $2008)$ is yet to be completed and there is still a lot of uncertainty regarding the availability of raw materials for production. In the meantime, the project cost has spiraled many times over to INR $50$ billion, which is likely to go up further.

$($a$)$ Discuss the importance of Project Management in the light of the above situation.

$($b$)$ As a project manager employed with GAIL, what would be your line of action to see to it that the project is not delayed any further?

$($c$)$ Why do projects suffer from time and cost overruns?