Vikrant exposes the cost of missing project experience

Repeated changes to Vikrant's design and equipment contributed to schedule and cost overruns. The book attributes the underlying underestimation to insufficient institutional experience of a project at this scale. Despite attempts to establish oversight, project-management controls appear to have been inadequate and some equipment orders slipped by years. The aviation-facilities design contract was placed in April 2006, sixteen months after the design was supposed to have been completed. Finalization in January 2009 was about five years late, affecting power generation and heating, ventilation and air-conditioning requirements. The resulting procurement delay also held up phase-three construction.