448 infrastructure projects hit by cost overrun of Rs 5.55 lakh crore in April

As many as 448 infrastructure projects, each entailing an investment of Rs 150 crore or above, were hit by a cost overrun of more than Rs 5.55 lakh crore in April 2024, according to an official report. According to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), which monitors infrastructure projects worth Rs 150 crore and above, out of 1,838 projects, 448 reported cost overruns and 792 projects were delayed. The total original cost of implementation of the 1,838 projects was Rs 27,64,246.50 crore, and their anticipated completion cost is likely to be Rs 33,19,601.84 crore, which reflects an overall cost overrun of over Rs 5,55,355.34 (20.09 per cent of original cost), the ministry’s latest report for April 2024 showed.

According to the report, the expenditure incurred on these projects till April 2024 is Rs 1,692,997.5 crore crore, which is 51 per cent of the anticipated cost of the projects.

However, the number of delayed projects decreased to 514 if the delay is calculated on the basis of the latest schedule of completion, it added.

Of the 792 delayed projects, 220 have overall delays in the range of 1-12 months, 192 have been delayed for 13-24 months, 259 projects for 25-60 months, and 121 projects for more than 60 months.

The average time overrun in these 792 delayed projects is 35.4 months. Reasons for time overrun, as reported by various project implementing agencies, include land acquisition, environmental clearance, financial issues, contractual/internal issues, manpower shortage and litigation issues.