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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

Rtn. TEJAS SURA

(MS, MBA, PfMP, PMP)
Managing Director at Cubic Turnkey Pvt. Ltd.
Representative of Bureau of Indian Standards on TC-258
ISO - International Organization for Standardization
Member, Chapter Member Advisory Group, PMI

You were GS in VJTI, so can I say the leader and there. After Billimoria I did my B.E. Civil and MS from
project manager inside you born there? Tell us the University of Texas at Austin. I went into designing
something about your time in VJTI? pre-engineered building project. After coming back to
First of all, I have no idea how you found out about me India, I joined my father’s company. I’ve been
being GS (Laughs). Project Management is an practically working on construction projects. This
‘Entrepreneurship’ and the first skill you need for that company (Cubic Turnkey) I started two years back on
is ‘Leadership’. I stood for GS because I wanted to do my own because I wanted to achieve a lot more than
lots of things for college. I should not brag about myself what we were doing earlier. Last 3-4 years I’ve been
but people kind of used to look up to me, this providing construction management services, where I
encouraged me to become GS. I did diploma plus managed projects for clients. My every assignment is a
degree, I topped entire diploma stream and got project.
admission into the second year of engineering degree.
With the advancement of newer technologies, do
VJTI was more of an academic-oriented institute by
you think the role of PM is changing? What does
then but I learned lots of good things and that’s why
even today, I come back to VJTI and teach there now. I future hold for Project manager?
would say VJTI is where my technical expertise was The role of PM is changing up to certain extent. It has
always been evolving. The scope of project is getting
born and I owe everything to VJTI for that. And
wider and wider every day. For example, if you see the
definitely, the project manager and leader in me started
there. real estate project 20 years back, the scope of a project
manager on a construction project was basically limited
How was your journey from a Trainee Engineer at to construction aspects, maybe a little bit electrical.
B E Billimoria to M.D. at Cubic Turnkey? Whereas now there is a lot of technological
Well, the journey has been quite enjoyable, every stage advancement in this sector. Integration is happening
of my life I was learning, even now I’m learning. It also with the technology. The project manager has to be
included a lot of struggles but overall it’s been a positive aware of lot more things now. Everything has to be
journey. Billimoria is a place where I built my integrated into the project. The role of PM is evolving
foundation. On the first day on the field, I thought I was and he’s expected to be more knowledgeable not only in
a zero. Even though I had all theoretical knowledge with his area but in multidisciplinary areas. Another thing is
me, I didn’t know how to implement the knowledge. My software aspects. If you see the evolution of mankind,
project with Billimoria was very challenging and the generations are changing now. A PM handling his
unique. That one year of training actually created the team from newer generation is to be a different
confidence in me. I took tasks as an opportunity to learn challenge than handling team members of his
more. I didn’t have formal knowledge about project generation.
management at that time but still I would say it started

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