Answer
A project is not a one shot activity. Even a shooting star has a time and life span. Project lifecycle is spread over a period of time. There is an unavoidable gestation period for the complex of activities involved to attain the objectives in view. This gestation period, however, varies from project to project but it is possible to describe, in general term, the time phasing of project planning activities common to most projects. The principal stages in the life of a project are :
- Identification
- Initial formulation
- Evaluation (selection or rejection)
- Final formulation (or selection)
- Implementation
- Completion and operation
Development projects are expressly designed to solve the varied problems of the economics whether in the short or long run. The surveys or in depth studies would locate the problems and the project planner will have to identify the projects that would solve the problems most effectively. At this stage, we are concerned with the kind of action and type of project that would be required in rather broad term. In other words the surveys and studies will give us ideas and throw up suggestions which would be worked out in detail later and then evaluated objectively before being accepted for implementation.
What types of surveys and studies are to be undertaken? The current socio- political economic situation has to be critically assessed. It will also be necessary to review it in its historical perspective necessitating the undertaking of a survey of the behaviour and growth of the economy during the preceding decades. On the basis of past trends, extrapolation may be made of future possible trends and tendencies, short and long term. There are scientific techniques for doing so which can be broadly grouped as forecasting methodology. It is however not sufficient to view the socio-economic panorama on the historical canvas. More detailed investigations from an operational point of view would be called for in respect of each economic sector.
Initial Formulation :- Identification is only the beginning in the lifecycle of a project. Having identified the prospective projects, the details of each project will have to be worked out and analysed in order to determine which of them could be reckoned as suitable for inclusion in the plan, allocate funds and put into execution. As a follow up to the finding of techno-economic surveys, and number of feasibility study group are set up, as the name implies to examine the possibility of formulating suitable projects and to put concrete proposals in sufficient detail to enable authorities concerned to consider the feasibility of the proposal submitted.
Evaluation or Project Appraisal :- After the socio-economic problems of an economy have been determined and developments objectives and strategies agreed, concrete steps have to be taken. The main form this takes is that of formulating appropriate development projects to achieve plan objectives and meet the development needs of the economy. Proposals relating to them are then put to the plan authorities for consideration and inclusion in the plan. These proposals as pointed out above take the following forms of feasibility studies :
- Commercial viability
- Economic feasibility
- Financial feasibility
- Technical feasibility
- Management
The scope for scrutiny under each of these five heads would necessarily render their careful assessment and the examination of all possible alternative approaches.
The process almost invariably involves making decision relating to technology, scale, location, costs and benefits, time of completion (gestation period), degree of risk and uncertainty, financial viability, organisation and management, availability of inputs, know-how, labour etc. The detailed analysis is set down in what is called a feasibility report.
Formulation :- Once a project has been appraised and approved, next step would logically, appear to that of implementation. This is, however, not necessarily true, if the approval is conditional to certain modifications being affected or for other reasons, such as availability of funds, etc. The implementation stage will be reached only after these pre-conditions have been fulfilled. Project formulation divides the process of project development into eight distinct and sequential stages. These stages are
- General information
- Project description
- Market potential
- Capital costs and sources of finance
- Assessment of working capital requirement
- Other financial aspect
- Economic and social variables.
Project Implementation :- Last but not the least, every entrepreneur should draw an implementation time table for his project. The network having been prepared, the project authorities are now ready to embark on the main task of implementation the project. To begin with successful implementation will depend on how well the network has been designed. However, during the course of implementation, many factors arise which cannot be anticipated or adequately taken note of in advance and built into the initial network. A number of network techniques have been developed for project implementation. Some of them are PERT, CPM, Graphical Evaluation and Review Technique (GERT), Workshop Analysis Scheduling Programme (WRSP) and Line of Balance (LOB).
Project Completion :- It is often debated as to the point at which the project life cycle is completed. The cycle is completed only when the development objectives are realized.
