As many as 462 infrastructure projects, each worth Rs 150 crore or more, have been hit by cost overruns totaling more than Rs 4.36 lakh crore,according to report by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation,
“Total original cost of implementation of the 1,737 projects was Rs 22,33,409.53 crore and their anticipated completion cost is likely to be Rs 26,69,649.35 crore, which reflects overall cost overruns of Rs 4,36,239.82 crore (19.53 per cent of original cost)”, the report noted.
The report further stated that the cost overrun for completing these 462 projects works out to be Rs 4,36,239.82 crore. The expenditure incurred on these projects till March 2021 is Rs 13,06,617.54 crore, which is 48.94 per cent of the anticipated cost of the projects.
“The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation monitors infrastructure projects worth Rs 150 crore and above. Of the 1,737 such projects, 462 reported cost overruns and 557 were delayed,” the report added.
The report informed that out of 557 delayed projects, 114 projects have overall delay in the range of 1-12 months, 131 projects (13-24 months), 190 projects (25-60 months) and 122 projects (61 months and above). The average time overrun in these 557 delayed projects is 44.69 months.
Project implementing agencies reported that the reasons for time overruns include, delay inland acquisition, delay in obtaining forest and environment clearances, and lack of infrastructure support and linkages. The report also mentioned ”state-wise lockdown due to COVID-19” as a reason for the delay in implementation of these projects.
“The project agencies are not reporting revised cost estimates and commissioning schedules for many projects, which suggests that time/cost overrun figures are underreported,” the report said.
“The number of delayed projects decreases to 412 if the delay is calculated on the basis of the latest schedule of completion. Further, for 938 projects neither the year of commissioning nor the tentative gestation period has been reported,” it added.