Of the 1,623 infrastructure projects currently under implementation in India worth over Rs 150 crore, over a fifth have recorded cost overruns accumulating to over Rs 3.88 lakh crore due to continued delays, among other reasons. According to data from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, another 552 projects have also recorded time escalation.
“The total original cost of implementation of the 1,623 projects was Rs 19,33,390.22 crore and their anticipated completion cost is likely to be Rs 23,21,502.84 crore, which reflects overall cost overruns of Rs 3,88,112.62 crore (20.07 per cent of original cost),” the ministry’s latest report, released for July 2019, observed.
Expenditure incurred on these projects as of the end of the review period stood at Rs 9,47,571.45 crore, or 40.82 per cent of the anticipated cost of the projects. The report said time overruns as reported by various agencies implementing these projects are caused primarily due to delays in land acquisition, acquiring forest clearances and the supply of equipment.
Besides, the ministry added, “there are other reasons like fund constraints, geological surprises, geo-mining conditions, slow progress in civil works, shortage of labour, inadequate mobilisation by the contractor, Maoist problems, court cases, contractual issues, ROU/ROW (right of use/right of way) problems, law and order situation” which affected timely implementation.
Of 552 delayed projects, 187 have been delayed between 1 to 12 months, 121 projects between 13 to 24 months, 132 projects between 25 to 60 months and 112 projects lagging schedules by 61 months and more.