Rs4.64-trn cost overrun hits 393 infra projects Out of 1,643 projects, 815 projects were delayed

New Delhi: As many as 393 infrastructure projects, each entailing an investment of Rs150 crore or more, have been hit by cost overruns of more than Rs4.64 lakh crore in June 2023, an official report said.

According to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, which monitors infrastructure projects worth Rs150 crore and above, out of 1,643 projects, 393 reported cost overruns and as many as 815 projects were delayed.

“Total original cost of implementation of the 1,643 projects was Rs23,86,687.07 crore and their anticipated completion cost is likely to be Rs28,51,556.84 crore, which reflects overall cost overruns of Rs4,64,869.77 crore (19.48% of original cost),” the ministry’s latest report for June 2023 said.

According to the report, the expenditure incurred on these projects till June 2023 was Rs14,99,771.71 crore, 52.59 per cent of the anticipated cost of the projects. However, it stated that the number of delayed projects decreased to 594, if delay is calculated on the basis of the latest schedule of completion. Further, it stated that for 336 projects neither the year of commissioning nor the tentative gestation period has been reported. Out of the 815 delayed projects, 193 have overall delays in the range of 1-12 months, 192 have been delayed for 13-24 months, 293 projects for 25-60 months and 137 projects have been delayed for more than 60 months.

The average time overrun in these 815 delayed projects was 37.49 month. Reasons for time overruns as reported by various project implementing agencies include delay in land acquisition, delay in obtaining forest and environment clearances, and lack of infrastructure support and linkages.