In this article we attempt to develop an institutional theoretic framework for examining the biography of a megaproject—the recently implemented Delhi metrorail system. We use Hirschman’s arguments on the trait-taking and trait-making aspects of development projects to understand how the project interacted with its institutional conditions especially in the context of transfer of Western planning technology to the developing world. The case study of the Delhi metrorail shows how the project attributes, institutional circumstances, and socio-political conditions affected not just the outcomes of this project but also its subsequent spin-offs like the Bus Rapid Transit project, conceived as an integral component of an Integrated Multi-Modal Transport System. We conclude that institutional innovations don’t happen in a vacuum, they occur within the existing matrix of socio-political forces defined in this case by the constitutional democracy of India and the culture of bureaucracy inherited from the instruments of modern state imposed during the colonial era.
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