Page 25 - Banking Finance December 2017

ARTICLE

EVALUATING

THE PROJECT:

SPEED THRILLS

BUT KILLS!

"A Project is a temporary endeavor with a de- Under the ongoing facts and circumstances hitting all of the
fined beginning and end (usually time-con- economies big or small the crucial requirement is there to
ensure that the projects taken to boost up activities [call it
strained, and often constrained by funding or
stimulus or jump start] should be specific, measurable,
deliverables), undertaken to meet unique goals achievable, realistic and time bound, which, in turn, should
and objectives, typically to bring about benefi- be evaluated and accordingly reviewed as the situation
warrants.
cial change or added value." - Wikipedia.
Since a project usually involves huge expenditure private
Actually, a project refers to a set of development measures
efforts often prove to be inadequate to shoulder it. Hence
undertaken either by an individual or by the Government
for the benefit of a class of persons or for the community as State's participation becomes essential .The State has to
a whole [e. g. utilizing water resources of a region for the shoulder the responsibility by undertaking projects of social
benefit of the population through irrigation, flood control, /strategic importance. A Project is therefore a public in-
fishing, power generation, etc.] vestment where profit maximization cannot be the sole
criterion. A public investment aims at rendering maximum
social service by maximizing the benefit of the project con-
About the author cerned at minimum possible cost to undertake those projects
which facilitate the progress of the entire economy.
Dr B K Mukhopadhyay
A noted Management Economist, an In- As it is not possible to undertake a huge number of projects
ternational Commentator on contempo- at a time the question of choice whether or not a particu-
rary business and Economic trends and lar project is worthwhile which is the best of several alter-
Principal, Eminent College of Manage- native projects or when to undertake a particular project -
ment and Technology, Kolkata, India. comes up before the decision makers Different criteria of

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