Concerning the statistics available from ADB, the Pakistan’s project success rate in has jumped from 58% to 64% in 2019-2021, still, the rates are considerably low (Brecorder.com, 2023). As per Yapet al. (2019), improper planning and inadequate risk assessment are the major reasons behind the failure of a project. The core factors that influence the decision-making abilities and emotional intelligence of Pakistani project managers are required to be discussed.

The “National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) Smart Card Project” is one of Pakistan’s unsuccessful IT megaprojects. The project’s goal was to give Pakistani residents smart identity cards with cutting-edge security features and a variety of services (Khan, 2020). However, the project ran into several problems and difficulties, including poor management, claims of corruption, technical difficulties, and delays in execution. These issues caused huge cost overruns, which eventually prevented the project from meeting its goals.

According to Denicolet al. (2020), Improper planning, and inadequate planning are the main reason behind the failure of the projects. How the interpersonal skills of a project manager can help in overcoming these issues are the core deliverables of the study and to justify that, the study will follow the mentioned case study.

According to the available data, the major issue that has been noticed in the NADRA Smart Card Project, in Pakistan is cost overrun. As per Yapet al. (2019), improper planning, miscalculating budget overruns, and improper risk assessment are the main reason behind a cost overrun. Thus, understanding the role of project planning and risk assessment is necessary. Also, the role of the project manager in project planning and how the interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence of a project manager help in overcoming these issues are important to know. This project will help future researchers as well as government authorities to understand the reasons behind the failure of the concerned project.

The motive of the project is to assess the influence of project planning along with project risk management on a project’s success together with the moderating role of emotional intelligence of project manager.