359 infrastructure projects show cost overrun of Rs 2.18 lakh cr

As many as 359 infrastructure projects, each worth Rs 150 crore and above, have shown cost overrun to the tune of Rs 2.18 lakh crore owing to delays and other reasons, a government report has said.

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

"Total original cost of implementation of the 1,302 projects was Rs 16,20,089.45 crore and their anticipated completion cost is likely to be Rs 18,38,119.90 crore, which reflects overall cost overruns of Rs 2,18,030.45 crore (13.46 percent of the original cost)," the ministry's latest flash report for December 2017 has stated.

Of these 1,302 projects in question, 359 reported cost overruns and 287-time escalation.

According to the report, the expenditure incurred on these projects till December 2017 stands at Rs 6,58,680.80 crore, which is 35.83 percent of the anticipated cost of the projects.

"Out of a total of 1,302 projects, 4 projects have reported completion and 17 new projects have been initiated on the monitor of this ministry during the current month. Of these, 15 projects are ahead of schedule, 310 are on schedule, 287 are delayed, 359 projects are showing cost overruns and 104 projects are showing both time and cost overrun with respect to original implementation schedules," the report said.

However, it said that the number of delayed projects decreases to 250 if the delay is calculated with reference to latest revised schedules of completion.

For 690 projects, where original or anticipated commissioning date has not been reported, all concerned have been requested to provide the same so that these projects can be monitored for completion vis-a-vis the targeted dates.

It noted that out of 287 delayed projects, 53 projects have an overall delay in the range of 1 to 12 months, 58 projects (13 to 24 months), 103 projects (25 to 60 months) and 73 projects (61 months and above).

The report attributes the time overrun to a host of issues, including delay in land acquisition, forest clearance, supply of equipment, funds constraints, Maoist incursion, legal cases and law and order situation.