External agencies for supplementing competencies in Indian urban PPP projects

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze involvement of external agencies for supplementing competencies in Indian urban public private partnership (PPP) projects. There are two key aspects which need investigation before making a decision to involve external agencies in urban PPP projects: reasons for involvement of external agencies and competencies to be supplemented by these agencies. Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire survey was conducted among urban PPP experts and ULB representatives for investigating the above aspects. A case study analysis with five urban PPP projects was also performed for investigating involvement of external agencies in the practical realm. Findings – The reasons for involvement of external agencies to supplement competencies rated high in importance are improvement in quality of deliverables, making available unique competencies for implementing urban PPP projects and transparency in implementation of urban PPP projects. The five most important competencies to be supplemented by external agencies are transaction design, evaluation, project marketing, project development process management and PPP process management. Originality/value – The study contributes towards the growing body of knowledge on roles and responsibilities of external agencies in urban PPP projects. The results would also help the policy makers to effectively address competency bottlenecks faced by urban PPP projects.