Mumbai: E Sreedharan, the architect of the ambitious Delhi metro project, was conferred the 'Lokmanya Tilak award' for 2013 at a function here last night for outstanding contribution to society. The Padmashree laureate is also credited for pulling off the Konkan Railway project. The award comprises a gold medal, a citation and Rs 1 lakh cash.

Professional competence marked the development of the Delhi metro project which was a technical marvel and also a sustainable model. He emphasised integrity, punctuality and professional competence as vital factors for undertaking any major infrastructure project to avoid cost overruns, saying, "In infrastructure projects time is money."

Referring to the proposed Pune metro project, he said "valuable time" of about five years had been lost in the execution of it which could result in cost escalation. He was of the opinion that it needs to be ensured the project causes minimum problems to people with minimum dislocation and disruption in traffic flow in the city.

Deepak Tilak, chairman of the Lokmanya Tilak trust presented the award, which carried a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh and a citation to the Padmashree laureate, who is also credited for pulling off the Konkan railway projects.