445 infra projects show cost overrun of Rs 4.4 lakh crore

Reasons reported include delay in land acquisition, delay in obtaining forest and environment clearances, and lack of infrastructure support and linkages.

NEW DELHI: As many as 445 infrastructure projects, each entailing investment of Rs 150 crore or more, have been hit by cost overruns totalling more than Rs 4.4 lakh crore, according to a report.

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation monitors infrastructure projects of Rs 150 crore and above.

Of 1,673 such projects, 445 projects reported cost overruns and 557 projects were delayed. "Total original cost of implementation of the 1,673 projects was Rs 22,23,791.78 crore and their anticipated completion cost is likely to be Rs 26,64,649.18 crore, which reflects overall cost overruns of Rs 4,40,857.40 crore (19.82% of original cost)," the ministry's latest report for December 2021 said.

According to the report, the expenditure incurred on these projects till December 2021 is Rs 13,08,766.65 crore, which is 49.12 per cent of the anticipated cost of the projects.

However, the number of delayed projects decreases to 420 if delay is calculated on the basis of the latest schedule of completion.

Further, for 838 projects neither the year of commissioning nor the tentative gestation period has been reported.

Out of the 557 delayed projects, 97 projects have overall delay in the range of 1-12 months, 127 projects have been delayed for 13-24 months, 217 projects for 25-60 months and 116 projects have delays of 61 months and above. The average time overrun in these 557 delayed projects is 45.69 months.

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.

Delay in tie-up for project financing, delay in finalisation of detailed engineering, change in scope, delay in tendering, ordering and equipment supply, and law and order problems are among the other reasons.

The report also cited state-wise lockdowns due to COVID-19 as a reason for the delay in implementation of these projects.

It has also been observed that project agencies are not reporting revised cost estimates and commissioning schedules for many projects, which suggests that time/cost overrun figures are under-reported, it added.