16 Infra Projects Completed With Cost Overrun

The list includes 6-laning of Vijayawada Bypass, from Chinna Avutapalli to Gollapudi in Andhra Pradesh, which was completed at Rs1,438.66 cr as against anticipated cost of Rs1,226.88 cr and schedule to be complete in Feb 2021

New Delhi: As many as 16 major infrastructure projects were completed in August with a total cost of Rs12,772.92 crore, whereas the original cost was Rs10,527.16 crore. The cost overruns were 21.33 per cent.

According to the government’s classification, a major infrastructure project is one with a total investment of Rs150 crore or more. Nine of the completed projects were in Rajasthan.

One of them, the 6-laning of Vijayawada Bypass from Chinna Avutapalli to Gollapudi was in Andhra Pradesh, official sources told Bizz Buzz. Originally anticipated to be complete in February 2021 at a cost of Rs1,226.88 crore, it finally involved the expenditure of Rs1,438.66 crore.

In the same month, 16 more infrastructure projects were added at an anticipated total cost of Rs15,663.95.

In August, a dozen infrastructure projects were frozen or deleted. They were originally estimated to cost Rs20,951.28 crore, but ended up draining Rs23,093.63 crore from the exchequer. Interestingly, the network for spectrum project alone resulted in an expenditure of Rs22,626.69 crore. The original cost was Rs13,334 crore. Under the Department of Telecommunications, this was a multi-state project.

Overall, there were 1,783 infrastructure projects by the end of August. The original cost of these projects was Rs2,738,539.25 crore, but now it has been anticipated to be Rs3,304,696.35 crore, which means an increase of 20.67 per cent.

It may be recalled that infrastructure is a key area of the Narendra Modi government. In the first two terms, it earmarked massive resources for infrastructure building. Carrying on the works, it approved infrastructure projects worth Rs3 lakh crore in the first 100 days of its third term.

The Prime Minister and other senior government functionaries have repeatedly pointed out that improved connectivity would galvanize economic growth and development, thus facilitating employment generation and enhancing the ease of living.