Freelance expatriates play crucial role in mega infra projects: IIT-M study

CHENNAI: Freelance expatriates hired by Indian Public Sector clients play a critical role in the smooth execution of infrastructure projects such as highways, urban rail systems, and airports, an Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT Madras), study found.

On analyzing data from two metro rail mega projects in India, which were part of the Delhi Metro, to conceptualise impasses arising due to contradictions in institutionalised logic relating to work practices used by various organisations, Prof. Ashwin Mahalingam, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT-Madras found that contradictory logics in carrying out work can lead to ‘horizontal’ or process-based institutional voids, and ‘vertical’ or role/hierarchy-based institutional voids that must be successfully navigated to ensure project progress.

According to a press release from IIT Madras, the researcher studied the challenges faced during the initial stages of infrastructure vanguards in India and how different views were negotiated to create a set of processes that can lead to the smooth management of these projects. A key finding of the paper was that most of these conflicts were resolved by a hitherto unheralded group of project participants - freelance expatriates hired by the Indian client.